Real Sociedad Vs. Real Madrid Match Recap: Madrid Get Tough Win

Jose Mourinho decided to bench some of the usual starters. Lass and Coentrão played instead of Khedira and Marcelo, and we continued to rotate Higuaín and Özil for Benzema and Kaká. It seems that Mourinho is willing to play Kaká and the French striker when we are at the Santiago Bernabéu, and Higuaín will get the chance to start away from our stadium alongside Özil.

This was a very difficult game. Real Sociedad are a very tough team at home (like every northern team in the Spanish league) and even though they are not experiencing a good streak, I was certainly more afraid of this game than ihe Villarreal one.

My expectations were certainly fulfilled as Real Sociedad proved to be a really tough team to beat. Barcelona could only get a 2-2 draw in Anoeta and Madrid suffered a lot in the second half.

In the ninth minute, Higuaín received the ball from Coentrão in the left corner of the box and passed to Real Sociedad's goalkeeper with a chip. It was nice to see our team scoring quickly again, but the Basque team was not going to give up so easily.

The first half went on with Di Maria giving some good passes again that could have been converted into assists if our strikers were more accurate. Cristiano was not at all comfortable during the whole game, but he tried as usual to create some danger into Real Sociedad's defense.

Lass Diarra helped the team but he was not as brilliant as against Betis. I think Khedira is more useful in these kinds of games where the rival is trying hard to put pressure on our strikers and go on the counter attack. The German always keeps his position and he covers Coentrão and Arbeloa's area when they both get into attacking mode.

In the second half our team did not try to score as much. Özil looked lost in the pitch -yet again- and he is not his last year's self. Let's hope he can get back into the form, especially since it was already November or December when the German player started to look fit. His best months came in January and February, so he might be one of those players that gets in shape very late in the season.

It's true that Real Sociedad did not make Casillas work that much, but the team started to lose the ball and the Basque players were able to try some long-distance shots. Ramos completed the game in the CB position, something that is starting to become routine. When he plays in that position, Pepe is allowed to be in a more secondary role. The Portuguese does not need to shine as much with his lightning speed. When Carvalho is playing, Pepe usually needs to go at his full speed to cover Carvalho's lack of it.

Kaká, Benzema and Khedira were our three substitutes, and they were not very dominant during the match. We managed to conclude the game with the 0-1 in the scoreboard, although the referee did not show a red card to Griezmann for a nasty tackle to Sergio Ramos.

When the referee called the end of the game, Mourinho and Cristiano showed their relief, and the team looked quite happy. That speaks from itself. It was not a brilliant game but you need to get the three points out of these tough ones.

Next ahead, we visit Lyon this Wednesday in the Champions League. Let's hope the changes Mourinho made in our lineup today are fresh in the French venue.