Immediate Reaction: Real Sociedad 1 - 1 Real Madrid; Liga F

Real Madrid finish off the league campaign with a draw against Real Sociedad in Donostia. Below are my views on the match.

Grid View

• Real Madrid XI
• Real Sociedad XI
• Bench

For the last match of the league this season, Toril had decided on rotation and change of formation once again. After two months of not playing, Nahikari was back on pitch and this time she got a start to lead the attack with Møller. Athenea was on the wing on one side and Maite at times acted as the opposite side winger. Behind them, Teresa and Zornoza were in midfield. Lucía was another new face in the lineup, as she got to play her 4th match of 2023. Olga was on left back and the CB pairing for the match were Rocío and Kathellen. Gérard also got a start which would be her last match as a professional footballer.

The first half wasn’t good for the white club. Real Sociedad showed more eagerness to score and Real Madrid weren’t pressing enough to keep the ball in control. The only two chances Las Blancas had two long-range shots. First by Teresa just outside of the penalty area and the second attempt was by Olga from around 30 meters.

Møller was more in a 10 role while Nahikari stayed up in front. She was the only one pressing even though she asked the rest of the front line to join her. At times Athenea would help Nahikari in the press but nothing would come out of it.

There was a triple halftime change. Esther, Freja and Svava got on for Møller, Teresa, and Olga. The game was more equal since this change. Esther took on Møller’s role, dropping deep, trying to dribble inside the box, however also holding onto the ball too long at times.

There were 11 corners in total in the game, 8 were by txuri-urdin, and only 3 by Real Madrid. However, Las Blancas capitalized from one of them.

54’: GOAL by Nahikari García (0-1)! Zornoza took the corner from the right side and sent it to Nahikari on the near post. The striker managed a shot in turn and put it in.

Minutes after the goal, Claudia Zornoza took another corner, this time sending it to the far post where Rocío was, but she was too hesitant to go for a header and nothing came out of it. Another brilliant center from the midfielder. Should be Madrid’s main corner-taker.

84’: GOAL by Amaiur Sarriegi (1-1)! The long ball from Etxezarreta went over Kathellen who was supposed to mark Amaiur. The Basque gets the ball and goes 1 on 1 versus Meline Gérard and wins the duel.

Aside from this duel, the French goalkeeper had a good game. She made two critical saves that would’ve gone in if she hadn’t managed to stop them, one in the first half and one in the second. She didn’t manage a clean sheet, but her last game was certainly one to remember.

There was one more moment to remember, and it was the substitution of Claudia Zornoza for Bea Vélez in 72’. The academy player got 18 minutes in her debut for the first team and showed her quality. She played on the right wing and managed a couple of clean crosses in and showed her decision-making abilities.

The game ended in a draw, which was probably deserved. Looking at what could be seen on pitch, and then the stats on paper that confirm it, the teams split the deserved points. Real Madrid finished off this league campaign with 75 points.