Real Sociedad complicates its European journey

Real Sociedad hoped to quench their thirst for points in the Europa League by visiting the Czech Republic this Thursday, but they return to San Sebastián having to deal with the consequences of a bad hangover. A last-minute goal by Vasulin gave Viktoria Pilsen a victory that darkens the horizon for the Basques in the second continental competition and brightens it for the Czechs.

After a great header by Óskarsson from an Oyarzabal cross allowed Imanol Alguacil’s team to equalize a score that had been favorable to the home side thanks to a goal by the dangerous Adu, the visitors pushed and had chances to turn the result around despite Viktoria Pilsen also showing their claws. However, luck was elusive for Real Sociedad with an outcome that places them outside the spots that would allow them to play in the next round.

With four points in as many matches and twenty-fifth in the table, Real Sociedad will have to work very hard as they still have to face opponents like Ajax or Lazio to at least reach the round of sixteen, as direct qualification to the round of sixteen seems almost impossible today.

Imanol Alguacil was satisfied with the convincing victory that Real Sociedad achieved last Sunday against Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. For that reason, and also considering the importance of the match, the Orio coach made no more changes to his eleven compared to the noted duel in Andalusian lands than the entry of Óskarsson at the spearhead, sacrificing Brais Méndez in the engine room. He compensated for this move by shifting Sergio Gómez to the winger position and gave the outer horns of the offensive trident to Kubo, who reached one hundred matches as a txuri urdin player, and Oyarzabal.

The captain of Real Sociedad led a good start to the match for the Basque team, which added three interesting attacks down the left wing but soon found themselves behind on the scoreboard. Viktoria Pilsen had resisted Real Sociedad’s spirited start and gradually balanced the forces when Adu managed to finish a counterattack by beating Remiro with a low right-footed shot that went in at the near post.

The verticality of the Ghanaian attacker was one of Viktoria Pilsen’s main weapons, a tough and well-drilled team by veteran Czech coach Miroslav Koubek, relegated to the stands this Thursday due to a suspension. Real Sociedad’s defense suffered from his onslaughts in a period when the visiting team took risks in search of an equalizer.

Real Sociedad lacked precision in passing, constrained by the individual marking posed by Viktoria Pilsen until Oyarzabal broke free with a move that allowed him to get past a tender Paluska and deliver a measured cross that Óskarsson headed into the net with an extraordinary header. Oyarzabal soon squandered a golden opportunity to turn the score around by poorly controlling a masterful pass from Zubeldia behind the center-backs that had left the attacker alone in front of the goalkeeper.

Fruitless dominance

Real Sociedad dominated, but Viktoria Pilsen threatened with dangerous attacks that tested the txuri urdin’s resilience. Remiro thwarted a violent shot from Sulc in a match that opened up more in the second half. Oyarzabal responded with a strike that Jedlicka repelled, and Jirka replied with a shot that the former Mirandés and Oviedo player hit too wide.

Viktoria Pilsen came into the fray more urgently, having drawn their first three group stage matches, prompting the Czech team to step forward and test Remiro again with a lob from Adu that the goalkeeper caught. By then, Imanol Alguacil had already made a move, enlisting Sheraldo Becker in the hope that the Surinamese international could exploit the spaces that were opening up with his speed, before also bringing on Brais Méndez in midfield, sacrificing Javi López and repositioning Sergio Gómez as a left-back.

The two Real Sociedad substitutes crafted a sharp move in which Óskarsson hindered Oyarzabal, and the Basque team continued to push for victory, but a deflection by Vasulin after a Kalvach shot resulted in an unjust defeat that Oyarzabal could not prevent with a great chance after a flick-on by Óskarsson, complicating their European journey significantly.