Match Preview

Real Madrid will be back home at the Bernabéu on Sunday when they take on Real Sociedad. Real just played on Thursday against Villarreal, which ended in a late draw at the Cerámica. With Real now matched evenly on matches played with the other LaLiga clubs, it’s all the more important that they pick up a win on Sunday.

Real are currently in 5th with 30 points, just one point behind Alavés, who defeated Valencia earlier on Saturday. Sevilla and Atlético, both teams ahead of Real, play Sunday so it could end up being a very interesting weekend. Sociedad are tied for 15th with Legánes, so this should be a match Real is favored in at the very least.

Being back home should help Real, considering how poor they’ve been on the road this season. They need a win to get the sour taste from Thursday’s draw out, it won’t be easy with injuries piling on for the club now.

Injuries/Suspensions

Gareth Bale has now been added to the injury list with a calf injury. Initial tests showed that it is minor, so he should be back within the next couple of weeks. Asensio and Mariano remain injured, meaning Real are slowly thinning in their attack options. Llorente also is set to miss another match with his injury.

Sociedad will be without goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya, Sandro, Gorosabel, Raul Navas, Merquelanz, Sangalli, and Kevin Rodrigues. Theo Hernandez will also be ineligible against his loaner club.

There are no suspensions for either club in Sunday’s match.

Potential XIs

Real Madrid

Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Vazquez, Isco, Benzema

With Bale now out, Santiago Solari has a few options for his replacement. He could put Vazquez and Benzema up top or he could put Isco on the left wing. Regardless, Isco will likely slot in for Bale on Sunday. Other options would be Ceballos or even Vinicius, but Isco is probably due for a start.

Real Sociedad

Rulli; Elustondo, Llorente, Moreno, Zaldua; Januzaj, Illara, Zurutuza, Oyarzabal; Willian Jose, Juanmi

Prediction

Real Madrid-Real Sociedad 3-2

It’ll be interesting to see how Real Madrid line up without Bale. If Isco is given the nod, he needs to prove why he should be considered to start more often.

Ramos and Marcelo also need to step up for Real on Sunday. They looked very poor on Thursday against Villarreal, needless to say they need to play much better defense if they want to win.

There’ll also need to be some eyes on Modric, who was subbed out fairly early against Villarreal. Solari said after the match that Luka was getting over the flu, so we’ll see how long he plays given that he will likely start.

Real need this win, they can’t settle for draws anymore with the negativity surrounding the club this season and their waning chances of being LaLiga champions. Drawing only hurts, losing is pure devastation.

Despite the injuries, Real should be able to capture three points in front of their fans on Sunday. There can be no more excuses and they need to show they’re still capable of competing this season.