Last season’s 6th placed finishers, Real Sociedad, face a tough assignment on Sunday as they play host to the La Liga title-holders, Real Madrid, at their Reale Arena and despite holding home advantage the hosts look to have their cut out here.
Real Sociedad produced a solid campaign last season though as the hosts finished in 6th place which gained them automatic qualification for the Europa League along with 5th placed Villarreal, so they’ll be hoping they can take something out of this encounter.
However, along with Villarreal and 7th placed Granada, Real Sociedad suffered 14 defeats throughout last season’s La Liga campaign which were the highest amount of losses out of all the teams in the top half of the Spanish top flight.
In addition, Real Sociedad managed to collect just two wins from their final 12 matches overall in last season’s run-in, which were gained over bottom club Espanyol and fellow inconsistent outfit, Villarreal, while five defeats within this sequence threatened to compromise Real Sociedad’s top six finish.
Real Sociedad have started this new season with a 1-1 draw away at Real Valladolid.
Real Madrid claimed the La Liga title from under their fierce rivals Barcelona’s noses at the end of last season, winning the domestic title by a five-point margin and although Zinedine Zidane’s side lost to Manchester City in the Champions League, winning the domestic title would have been very satisfying nonetheless.
An impressive 10-match winning streak from mid-June through to mid-July secured the La Liga title for the visitors as they made the most of a fairly friendly looking fixture schedule, which also included a 2-1 win away at Sunday’s opponents, Real Sociedad.
During this period, Real Madrid scored a total of 19 goals but their defence came to the fore as they conceded just 4 goals and collected a total of six clean sheets in the process, and it was their solid defensive displays which ultimately earned them the La Liga crown.
Real Madrid also performed well on the road last season too as they suffered just three defeats on their travels throughout the whole campaign and they finished the season in strong fashion as they picked up four wins out of their final five matches away from home.
Real Madrid therefore look the more likely for the points here.