Real Madrid and Real Sociedad face off in Round 2 of La Liga this Sunday, August 31st, in Anoeta at 03:00 PM EST. Real Madrid opened up their season with a hard fought home win against Cordoba. Real Sociedad traveled to La Liga new boys Eibar and lost 1-0. Both teams will look to perform better and come away with three vital points in what should be a great game to watch.
Loss of Antoine Griezmann, Vela injury
‘La Real’ lost one half of its potent attack over the summer when Antoine Griezmann departed for Atletico Madrid. Griezmann and Carlos Vela had created one of the most exciting strike partnerships in La Liga over the past few seasons. They had a great understanding and both scored and assisted loads of goals eventually helping ‘la Real’ qualify for Champions League after being absent so many years. Griezmann had one of his best seasons last year in terms of goals and has finally moved on.
Vela has just committed his future to Real Sociedad, but has been injured most of the summer and only played about a half hour against Eibar which signals he’s not 100% fit either. WIthout Vela and Finnbogason, Griezmann’s replacement who is also out due to injury, this team doesn’t have any bite or goals in it.
They suffered to score against Eibar without these two. They also crashed out of the Europa League after losing 3-0 to Krasnodar. Confidence may be low and in order to get something against Madrid they will need Vela back.
Form and Ideal Starting XI
‘Los Blancos’ struggled against newly promoted Cordoba and didn’t wrap up the three points until the last minutes of the game. Ancelotti will definitely want to improve against Real Sociedad. ‘La Real’ will be on the attack at Anoeta which will most likely leave spaces in the back for Ronaldo and co. to exploit. Ancelotti is still implementing his system with the new additions as well. Xabi Alonso has also departed which leaves Real’s midfield without a tough defensive presence. Angel Di Maria has gone to United which means Rodriguez can now be better accommodated. I expect we’ll see the pairing of Kroos and Modric in midfield.
Real Sociedad Projected XI
Zubikarai
Zaldua
Elustondo
Iñigo Martinez
De la Bella
Pardo
Granero
Canales
Castro
Xabi Prieto
Vela
Real Madrid Projected Starting XI
Casillas
Dani Carvajal
Sergio Ramos
Pepe
Marcelo
Kroos
Modric
James Rodriguez
Ronaldo
Bale
Benzema
Prediction: Real Madrid 4-1 Real Sociedad
Twitter: @juancarami21
