Immediate Reaction: Real Sociedad 2-0 Real Madrid

Real Sociedad 2-0 Real Madrid. A poor defeat for Madrid. Here is the reaction. Up next: Player ratings, post game stuff and a ManagingMadrid podcast.

The Spanish Cup final was now just a number of days away, but the small matter of a trip away to high flying Real Sociedad came first for Real Madrid. After that final, Madrid would quickly go on to play in the semi-finals of the Champions League against Manchester City. Because of this, the squad was rotated slightly. Five Castilla players were called up to the bench, the most in a very long time. Striker Mariano Díaz was handed a rare start along with Rodrygo Goes and Marco Asensio. Dani Ceballos continued to play in midfield. Dani Carvajal came back into right-back, with Nacho Fernández moving over to left-back. Antonio Rüdiger started in the centre of defence. Nacho captained the team for this game.

Sociedad will more than likely qualify for the Champions League for next season as they currently sit in fourth place - and with the team put out by Madrid this was always going to be a tough affair. The hosts kicked off the chances when Alexander Sørloth came close as his effort was cleared away. They then hit the bar somehow, when Martín Zubimendi somehow aimed his shot too high right in front of goal. David Silva would then miss a great chance as the hosts began to take a hold of the play. Madrid would be unable to create anything substantial for the entire half, and only managed to string together a decent amount of passes on a few occasions. The rest of the time was spent trying to snuff out any Sociedad attacks. 0-0 at half time, with the visitors doing well to keep the scores level at the break.

They may have held on until half time, but the stoppage didn’t make a difference for Sociedad who managed to score within two minutes of the second half commencing. Éder Militão displayed some disastrous defending as he put the ball on a plate without looking for former Madrid man Takefusa Kubo to tap into the net. The home side continued to dominate the play, and things went from bad to worse as Dani Carvajal went on to receive two yellow cards in eight minutes, and was sent back to the showers early. The score could have been worse if not for Thibaut Courtois, who dived low to save a powerful deflected free-kick. Still, it did become 2-0 before the game was done - as Ander Barrenetxea finished low after a break to confirm Madrid’s defeat. Final score, a flattering 2-0 to Real Sociedad. Excited for the cup final?