La Liga: Sociedad and Atleti Sign Off by the Beach

Real Sociedad vs Atletico Madrid

Sixth plays fourth in San Sebastien on Saturday afternoon, and there’s no better city to be in if you’re dreaming of the summer holidays.

Yes, there are three points at stake when La Liga: Real Sociedad vs Atletico Madrid kicks off at 16-15 local time and, while the Real Seguron Stadium will be packed to the rafters for the visit of Los Rojiblancos, the famous La Concha Beach is a nearby attraction which will be hugely tempting if the sun is shining.

Sociedad will be sixth and Atletico fourth at the final whistle because all remaining issues were resolved last week.          

Imanol Alguacil’s Sociedad made sure of their European qualification thanks to a 2-0 win over Real Betis while Diego Simeone’s Atleti suffered a humbling home defeat at the hands of Osasuna, and that meant third place had drifted out of reach for Los Rojiblancos.

So with little but pride to play for, we could see an entertaining game, though it may well have an ‘end of season’ feel about it and that always makes it a hard one to call.       

Talking Points

Sociedad’s win over Real Betis was enough to confirm their European qualification at the expense of their hosts; and the score line suggests it was a comfortable passage as Brais Mendes and Mikel Moreno scored unanswered goals before the half-time break. But the Sociedad defence had to withstand a lot of pressure as Betis dominated possession and won the shot counts by 18 to five and nine to two on target, as La Real keeper Remiro Gargallo certainly earned his money.  

Sociedad will expect to have more of the game on Saturday and fans will hope to see their creative players put on a show. Attacking midfielder Takefusa Kubo has scored seven goals this season and is a real livewire, while Mikel Oyarzabal has scored nine goals and he assisted Moreno’s goal against Betis.  

Defensive midfielder Martin Zubimendi has been troubled by a hamstring injury and he may well sit this one out. And then the summer transfer market swings into action, with Premier League runners-up Arsenal reportedly keen to take the 25-year-old to the Emirates. But they will have to pay handsomely with Sociedad valuing their man in excess of 50m Euros.

After an uninspiring first half of the campaign, Atletico Madrid have recovered in recent weeks but they threw in a shocker last weekend. Any hopes of breaking into the top three were smashed to pieces when Los Rojiblancos’ home game against Osasuna proved to be anything other than the home win most of us expected. It was an afternoon to forget for Simeone’s men as the visitors ran out 4-1 winners, Alvaro Morata scoring Atletico’s consolation in front of a bewildered 58,000 fans. Morata’s goal was his 15^th of the campaign; while Antoine Griezmann, with 16 goals and six assists has also been in fine form. But Atletico are set to shuffle their squad and strengthen in attack in the summer. The Spanish press have reported Atleti’s interest in Villarreal striker Alexander Sorloth and with the transfer market just about to open there could be movement soon.

With one game to play Sorloth is in the lead for the La Liga Golden Boot with 23 goals, with Girona’s Artem Dovbyk the only player within reach.

And Sociedad fans will not be pleased to hear that their star defender Robin Le Normand is on Atleti’s radar to improve their defensive unit, as well as Valencia’s Cristhian Mosquera.         

History

With 25 wins to 18 Los Rojiblancos have had the edge in the head-to-head Real Sociedad vs Atletico Madrid results over the past three decades. More recently it has been all Atleti with three wins and two draws from the last five, including a 2-1 victory in Madrid back in October as Griezmann scored a late penalty.      

With four wins and two losses Atletico have a slightly better record over the last six games than La Real’s three wins, one draw and two losses but, with home advantage, the latest Real Sociedad vs Atletico Madrid betting odds give Alguacil’s men the edge.      

Betting Tip

Sociedad are marginal favourites at SBOTOP odds of 2.36 to win this last game of the season with Atletico at 2.64 and the draw is priced at 3.04.

The hosts’ two recent losses were against Champions Real Madrid and runners-up Barcelona, so I’d be surprised to see them lose another, and can see a 1-1 draw or a home win by the odd goal in three.    

 

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