In Europe you can’t give away even fifteen minutes

Real Sociedad was defeated at the Reale Arena against Anderlecht due to fifteen minutes of general blackout that cost them dearly. And in Europe you can’t give anything away, against any rival. Because the royalists played a game enough to have scored or even won, but the last fifteen minutes of the first half completely lost the game and they allowed themselves to be overcome by an Anderlecht that penalized them excessively with the few chances they had. La Real had its good first half hour, represented by Marín’s goal. And although the tie should not have risen to the scoreboard due to a prior foul on Sadiq, the fact is that all his problems began there. In the second half they did everything to tie it, but there was a lack of clarity in the finishing. Defeat was further aggravated by a new incident of rival radicals in the visiting stands, with moments of great tension and great danger.

Imanol Alguacil surprised again by repeating the scheme of the first day of the Europa League in Nice. He again renewed the entire team with respect to the league victory against Valencia. And once again he opted to play with a defense of five, giving the alternative to Zubieta, with up to seven players trained in the Real Sociedad quarry. Courage cannot be denied to the Oriotarra, who completely refreshed the team looking for the first victory in this first phase league.

The changes suited the royalists well, as they started the game very well, pressing hard from high up to make Anderlecht hesitate. La Real started the match very energized, stealing from the top, winning duels and with good pressure after losses that caused dangerous actions on Cosemans’ goal. The first goal of the game came as a result of that aggressiveness in the disputes. A steal of the ball by Sadiq, who then crossed to the far post so that Pablo Marín, unmarked, could put the Txuri-Urdin team ahead. The match had only just begun. La Real was comfortable, they arrived with danger, but once again they were not able to kill the game. And suddenly, in an isolated action, with a realistic defense that was not very forceful, Vázquez stood alone in front of Remiro and crossed for the Belgians to tie. The goal should not have gone up, however, because at the origin of the play there was a clear foul on Sadiq in the center circle. The goal did a lot of damage to the royalists, who in the last quarter of an hour disappeared until the break and paid dearly for it, because it allowed Anderlecht to come back with a great goal from Leoni after having not been good on a rebound. It was time to come back in the second half, because fifteen minutes of blackout made the game very difficult.

It is no coincidence that the general blackout of the Real Sociedad, very young in age, coincided with the moment in which the Anderlecht ultras caused altercations in the stands and threw goals from the visiting zone to the family stands of the Reale Arena. The Romanian referee Barbú did not react and it had to be the realists who warned him of the problem. That completely distracted them and they paid dearly for it, because the game went away. After the break, Imanol introduced Kubo and Barrenetxea, and returned to his usual 4-3-3 system. That move was great for him, Real reactivated and monopolized the ball and the chances. But the goal was denied, sometimes due to a lack of finishing and other times because Cosemans was right. As time passed, his energy ran out until he allowed Anderlecht to finish the game at 3-1. Remiro avoided it, but the realistic tie did not come either, despite deserving it. And in Europe, giving away fifteen minutes can cost you a lot.