Opposition analysis: Real Sociedad

Our Europa League opponents have been confirmed! For the knockout play-off round, teams that finished third in this season’s Champions League groups will face off against the teams that finished second in the Europa League groups for a place in the round of 16. RBL have been drawn against Real Sociedad of Spain.

The first leg takes place on the 17th February 2022, with the second leg just a week later as our team will travel to the Basque region. We took a closer look at our upcoming opponents!

HISTORY

Real Sociedad were founded by a group of workers and students in 1904 in San Sebastian. Known as “Erreala” in the Basque region, they are one of the most traditional clubs in Spain have played in the Spanish top flight, better known as “La Liga”, in every year since 1928 (excluding between 2007 and 2010).

The club’s most successful period came in the 1980s, when they won their only two league titles to date (in 1980/81 and 1981/82), as well as the Spanish Super Cup (1982/83) and the Copa Del Rey (1986/87), the equivalent of the DFB-Pokal.

Until 1989, Real Sociedad stuck to a policy which meant that only players from the Basque region are to represent the club. Since then, they have signed many foreign players as well as players from other regions of Spain. Their best-known players include the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Xabi Alonso.

HISTORY IN EUROPEAN CLUB COMPETITIONS

The club’s greatest international success came during the 1982/83 season when they reached the semi-final of the European Cup where they were narrowly defeated by a Hamburger SV side which contained players such as Felix Magath and Horst Hrubesch. Real Sociedad also regularly competed in the UEFA Cup between the 1970s and the 1990s.

They’ve qualified for the Europa League on four occasions since 2014, including in each of the last two seasons, with their best performance during these campaigns seeing them reach the round of 32. Real Sociedad have also competed in the Champions League on two occasions: they reached the round of 16 in 2003/04 and the group stage in 2013/14.

During this season’s Europa League competition, Real Sociedad were drawn into Group B alongside AS Monaco, PSV Eindhoven and Sturm Graz, finishing second in what was a tough group, and only losing one of their six group matches to group winners Monaco.

 

RECENT HISTORY

Since their promotion to the top flight in 2010, Real Sociedad have regularly finished in the top half of “La Liga”. They’ve finished in the top nine in eight of the last ten seasons, they won the Copa del Rey under head coach Imano Alguacil in 2019/20 and finished in fifth place last season.

CURRENT FORM

The Basque-based side are well on course for a European place in 2021/22 – they are currently seventh, but they do have a game in hand on the teams above them. The side had a difficult end to 2021, losing all of their final four games of the year, but Real Sociedad have picked up again in 2022 and are unbeaten in the league in 2022.

In their most recent fixture, they defeated Granada 2-0 last Sunday. The team are also proving to be a bit unpredictable – after a great victory against Atletico Madrid in last 16 of the Copa del Rey at the end of January, they suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat to Real Betis in the following round.

SQUAD

Key players

The biggest name in the Sociedad squad is without doubt World and European champion David Silva. Although the 35-year-old midfielder has picked up several injuries during his time there and mostly makes substitute appearances, the move has really been the swansong for his career. Mikel Oyarzabal is Sociedad’s main attacking threat. The Spanish international, who has 21 caps for his country, has regularly hit double figures for goals each season and is his side’s top scorer so far in 2021/22 once again.

They also have a trio of players in their side who have spent time at Borussia Dortmund in the past. Swedish striker Alexander Isak has developed into one of La Liga’s top strikers, midfielder Mikel Merino is becoming a regular in the Spanish national team and Belgian Adnan Januzaj has also come on leaps and bounds as a player at the “Erreala”.

And as fate should have it, we’re also going up against Alexander Sörloth! Our striker who is currently on loan at Real Sociedad regularly features for them, and has done well so far for the side in the Europa League, scoring two goals, and he will surely get minutes against us in the play-off!

Head coach

50-year-old Imanol Alguacil is a head coach with a proud history at Real Sociedad. He played for the club as a defender in the 1990s, and since 2013, he’s worked as first team assistant coach, head coach of the reserves and interim first team head coach before getting the job on a permanent basis in 2018, where he has celebrated great success with his side and built a team of international quality.

STADIUM

The Estadio Anoeta was constructed between 1990 and 1993, and following recent refurbishment, the ground can now host 39,500 spectators. Rugby clubs from French Basque sometimes use the ground alongside the Spanish top-flight side.

Music legends including the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Depeche Mode have also performed there.