At Reale Arena in San Sebastian, the contest was tight. It is not always important to go on for an offensive surge, but at times, being behind the ball and maintaining a compact defence is very important in winning a match when the opposition is stubborn. Real Sociedad have players who can pose a big threat. Ask Barcelona how they tested them a few months back and Zinedine Zidane knows very well how important the contest would be and thus focused on solidity rather than free-flowing football.
3-win out of 3 for the Los Blancos since the return of #LaLiga after the break. Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema fired goals as Real Madrid take the top spot. #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/VnOGZE3vyW
— Faisal Caesar (@faisalyorker1) June 21, 2020
Real Sociedad are a team, which can kill you during the transition and they are very well in absorbing pressure. If you advance forward, from nowhere, they would win the ball back and exploit the gaps. Zidane could not but emphasize on being defensive – Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio were benched. The battle must be won at the center of the park.
Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Fede Valverde, and James Rodriguez parked the midfield whereas Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema occupied upfront. The midfield kept their compactness intact with Rodriguez forming the top of a diamond-shaped midfield.
The preference of Vinicius was a tactical move. You need someone to break the resistance with pace and dribbling abilities and none could do this better than Vinicius Junior.
In the first half, Real Madrid and Real Sociedad were tested constantly, and both did well enough to advance the ball.
The only real chance in the first half from either side came from Fede Valverde winning the ball high up the pitch with a great bit of defensive intervention. After carrying the ball up the field, he released Benzema through in the box for a shot on goal.
In the important games Vinicius Junior just continues to deliver. Against a stubborn unit like Sociedad, the pace and dribbling skills of Vinicius were much needed to break the resistance and mind you, defensively, Vinicius was very good too. I love watching him in action. pic.twitter.com/7xm7M0OLAi
— Faisal Caesar (@faisalyorker1) June 22, 2020
Without Hazard; Benzema relied on help from Vinicius and James offensively. But Vinicius was more effective – Vinicius, who dominated Gorosabel in a matchup earlier in November, went at the Real Sociedad right-back often. Gorosabel did well defensively but did get burned a couple of times, and it was Vinicius’s line-breaking run that led to a penalty earned in the second half.
As a matter of fact, Vinicius had a terrific game defensively as well.
Vinicius Junior vs Real Sociedad
1 penalty won
32 passes
78% pass accuracy
2 shots
1 key pass
5 dribbles won
2 tackles won
1 aerial won pic.twitter.com/Pd5vwyPAHf— cricketsoccer (@cricketsoccer) June 22, 2020
Real Sociedad couldn’t get going offensively was because any time they had space to exploit, Vinicius would sprint back to help Marcelo or the midfield who got caught. Portu had no chance at any offensive freedom on that flank because of it.
Sergio Ramos opens the score with a goal from a penalty #RSORMA pic.twitter.com/pxcw35P4pj
— VBET News (@VBETnews) June 21, 2020
To be honest, Rodriguez was below-par and excuses would be there, but one needs to agree, he does not fit well in the current Real Madrid team.
Goal for #RealMadrid ??? #KarimBenzema extends Madrid's lead with a cool finish in the box. 2️⃣-0️⃣ in favor of Los Blancos ?#RealSociedadRealMadrid pic.twitter.com/Zpi3jmdxYv
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) June 21, 2020
Controversy showed up in the second half – Real Sociedad looked like they had equalized through a Januzaj goal, but it was called off due to Mikel Merino — who didn’t touch the ball — being in an offside position interfering with Courtois’s line of vision. Moments later, Karim Benzema scored a goal, which he brought down with his shoulder before firing it in the back of the net. The goal stood, in what was essentially a two-goal swing. Both decisions required some interpretation.
Sociedad pulled one back, but Real sustained the pressure and overcame the threat.
It was a relief and this victory have put Real at the top of the table.