Real Sociedad have been the dominant force in La Liga since KuZmanovic took charge when Sociedad were rotting in the Liga Adelante, unknown at the time by many but trusted by the board KuZmanovic has shown what can be accomplished with sheer determination. It all started with the incredible Adelante season which saw them win the league without losing a game and saw them reach the Spanish Cup Final only to lose in a close fought match against the mighty Barcelona.
With thier first season in La Liga, many expected them to have a battle on there hands to survive the drop. but they did the opposite with limited funding KuZmanovic transformed the club into a contender for the league title, making £38.5million with the sale of such higly rated players as Xabi Prieto and Mikel Gonzalez, KuZmanovic then went and spent £63million on young quality players such as Sergio Asenjo, Juan Manuel Mata and Oscar Trejo who together showed how dominate the team could be and with aditions in the January transfer window with Walter and Monzon the team came so close to winning the league, but they managed to still get the double, by winning the Spanish Cup and the Spanish Super Cup.
Fast forward 2 years, they have won 2 consecutive La Liga Titles and will be aiming for 3 in a row next season but they have also won consecutive Spanish Cup and Spanish Super Cup titles, but to challenge in europe proved too tough last year going out to none other the Barcelona after reaching the Quarter Final stage.
But could this be the season?
Sociedad were teamed with Celtic, Galatasaray and the remaining Champions Manchester United. the group started with a 2 - 1 win over Celtic with a goal from Mathebula and the winner from their record signing Walter, followed was a good 0 - 0 draw with Manchester United and a 3 - 0 demolishing of Galatasaray with another from Walter and goals from Trejo and Mata. the return leg against Galatasary was a close fought 1 - 0 win with yet another goal from the wonderkid that is Walter and another 1 - 0 victory over Celtic with the winner from Nimani. already confirmed as group winners and a La Liga title to chase for Sociedad played there backup team in the game and it could have gone either way with a late Rooney goal the decider.
through to the first knockout round they faced familiar opposition in Arsenal who they been grouped in last years competition, with a close 1 - 1 away draw Sociedad knew they had a chance of making the Quarter Final with a home 1 - 1 draw it went all the way to Penalties with Sociedad coming out victorious with a 6 - 5 win.
Again Sociedad had English opponents this time in the form of English champions Manchester United. the home leg was entertaining and only a goal from Walter separated the teams at full time, things were looking good when Vidic got sent off, but it came at a cost with Walter the victim of a viiolent tackle that saw him replaced the tie went all the way to penalties again after Falamini got the winner for united and again Sociedad came through with a 6 - 5 win.
The Champions Legaue had thrown them against previous winners Liverpool for a place in the final. Sociedad battled all the way and when it was thought they would leave with nothing thanks to Gerrard goal, up pops Trejo to score in the 89th minute and send the teams to the second leg at 1 - 1. the home leg came after 30minutes Monzon the strong talented LB had to be replaced by Merlo, 11minutes into the second half and the tie is won with a goal from the substitute Merlo, they made it!!!
Now Can Sociedad Make History, time will tell.............
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Pre Match Conference
Journalist (Ruben Casares)
"In all of their history, Real Sociedad have never won the Champions Cup. Do you agress with the suggestion that winning the Champions Cup may be one of the teams biggest ever challenges"
KuZmanovic
"There's absolutley no doubt about it. A categorical yes!. we have a great chance, we have beaten some quality teams, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool have all been shown that we are no push overs"
Journalist (Robert Reyes)
"What chance is there of you taking a positive approach to this match?"
KuZmanovic
We have a quality team, we have beaten Real Madrid before, i will be telling the lads not to hold back and will get them to try and dominate the match as much as possible"
Journalist (Ruben Casares)
"Real Sociedad beat Liver, Manchester United and Arsenal whist Real Madrid beat FC Barcelona, FC Bayern Munchen and Ajax to get this far. Your side so far has pushed three opponents to the wayside. can a forth follow?"
KuZmanovic
"Of course, we have a great chance and i think we could very well win. We might be the underdogs but we dont mind, everyone knows that we are a good team and that we could make a match of it against anyone"
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Team News
Real Madrid
Real Madrid may have Van Nistelrooy out after not being registered but they still have the quality to test any team. In Casillas they have a world class goalkeeper that can make stunning saves that some keepers wouldnt stand a chance against.
while they have a quality back four with Marcelo on the left and Hubschman and Garay in the centre of defense and Miguel Torres of the right side of defense, this is a good young and quality defense that would give up the fight.
Real Madrid have been known to dominate the midfield and today they have put out a strong midfield consisting of Royston Drenthe and Arjen Robben on the right and left side of midfield respectively. while they have Wesley Sneijder and Fernando Gago in the centre of midfield to to control things down the middle.
while up front they have the extremely talented Raul and Guilherme to control the game and score the goals.
The Subs:
Timo Hildebrand
Gonzalo Higuain
Daniel Soldado
Angelo Palombo
Real Sociedad
the biggest news for Real Sociedad is that Walter the joint top scorer is out injured. but good news is that influential midfielder Mata and the leading scorer Mario Balotelli are back after being taken off during the 3 - 1 Spanish Cup Final Win over At. Madrid
in goal is the wonderkid Sergio Asenjo is in goal and has been in superb form conceding just 39 games in 59 games with 26 cleansheets and 20 MoTM awards.
With a good attacking defense that has Rafinha and Fabian Monzon going down the wings in the left and right position respectfully and they have Daniel Carrico and Cedric Mongonu in the centre of the defense and it will be there job to contain Raul and Guilherme
in the midfield Sociedad has Sancho - the young left midfielder replacing Juan Manuel Mata who has gone into the attacking midfield position with Walter out injured. on the opposite side they have another youngster in Uranga the highly rated right midfielder. Mathebula and Witsel make up the centre of midfield and they will have to decide if they should stay back to combat the pace of the Madrid or go attacking.
in attack Sociedad has Mata in the attacking Midifield centre potion and will be told to go forward when ever possible but not to forget defensive responsibilities and just in front of Mata will be Oscar Trejo, he hasnt been as Lethal as he has been in previous seasons but still has a decent return rate with 14 goals in 30 games but his opportunities limited thanks to constant niggling injuries but he will hope that he could make the different between the teams come the end of the game
The Subs:
Eloi Jimenez
Maximiliano Merlo
Steven Defour
Mario Balotelli
Nicolas N'Koulou
Brouno Formigoni
Frederic Nimani
Odds: Sociedad 13 - 8 Draw N/A Madrid 6 - 4 (Fav)
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The Game: Real Sociedad Vs Real Madrid
with the teams coming out of the tunnel the fans begin cheering for their team, who will win?
the teams share the possession with a mixture of good tackles and sloppy passing. Formigoni brings it forward for Sociedad with a nice long ball looking and finding Witsel and he brings it forward into the area with a short pass looking for Trejo is blocked and Sociedad win the first corner of the game. Real Madrid are able to counter attack thanks to a poor corner Guilherme brings the ball forward and a good tackle from Carrico is needed to advert any danger the talented youngster could course.
with the end of the first half approaching Monzon puts a good cross into the area which Trejo just missed and down the other end Guilherme must have scrapped the post with a nice shoot from just with in the penalty area
The half time whistle has blown, with neither side able to take the lead with barely any shots, the ball is getting clogged up int he middle of the pitch.
HT: 0 - 0
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The Second Half:
with no substitutions at half time both teams come out from the break as they entered it. Real Sociedad take the kick off and instantly lose it, Real Madrid look up for this and Sneijder plays the ball down for Rual who was almost invisible in the first half. Raul takes the ball forward and past Carrico before passing towards Guilherme but Mongongu makes a important interception and Formigoni removes the danger as Trejo tries to get it but pepe gets thier first.
Dairra hits a long pass airmed for Guilherme, that was a great pass and Guilherme brings the ball forward but after passing the ball to Palombo Mata gets in hard and leaves with the balll and with an equally good ball Trejo brings the ball down the right flank as the Sociedad team begin to slowly move forward ever keeping an eye on the fast Madrid attackes, Trejo passes the ball into the area with an awaiting Mata ready, but Pepe gets their first and knocks it behind for a corner.
but after another poor corner which has KuZmanovic fuming Madrid bring the ball forward with guilherme as the spearhead of the attack, he shoots great save by Asenjo as he gets his fingertips to it, that was destined for the top corner. its all Real Madrid, the Sociedad players are chasing shadows but its the Madrid boss that makes the first change with Drenthe repalcing Diarra on 69 minutes.
Guilherme brings the ball forward, but is tackled by Carrico that looked nasty this could be a card and that has the Sociedad boss is awaiting the card, its Yellow and the relief is shown on the players faces they can only just stay with Madrid at the moment. 85 minutes gone and neither team has shown the deadly touch required to beat these two quality keepers.
who will win this one, with 5minutes left it could go to extra time?
ith 5 minutes to go and Real Madrid come at Sociedad again, its all Madrid again this time with Robben crossing the ball towards Guilherme, Guilherme takes the ball down and around Carrico before forcing a save out of Asenjo who has been a rock to day. that signals the first substituion for Sociedad with Mata moving from AMC to LM and Formigoni being replaced by Frederic Ninami as they go from 4 - 4 - 1 - 1 to 4 - 4- 2.
The change brings a new confidence to Sociedad as they begin to play as well as they done in previous matches in the competition with Trejo forcing a save from Casillas with great play by Mata and Nimani. the game moves into extra time with just a couple of minutes left to win the game before it going to extra time Trejo exchanges passes with Mata and moves in on goal, could this be it? Yes, its a goal with a typical goal from Trejo. Real Madrid go 4 - 2 - 4 in an attempt to go get them selves back into the game.
Robben brings the ball forward as all the Madrid players begin to push forward in all out attack, can Sociedad hold on and claim this victory?
There it is, the Full time whistle they have done it, Real Sociedad are Champions of Europe. but too be honest Real Madrid could have won this, they dominated the possession and had more shots then Real Sociedad, but they just couldnt get past the Sociedad defense and it cost them. With this win Real Sociedad have won the Quadruple after already having won the Spanish Super Cup, Spanish La Liga Title and The Spanish Cup
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