Real Madrid drop momentum against Sociedad ahead of Madrid derby on Sunday

New Delhi: Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. rescued his team from getting humiliated by the 5^th place Real Sociedad. Madrid were unable to extend their winning streak of 5 matches on Monday. Real is set to face their city rivals Atletico Madrid at Wanda Metropolitano.

Atletico are sitting at the top of the table right now and Real are sitting on 3^rd with a 5 points difference from the league leaders.

Plus Points for Real:

• The match marked the return of four crucial players in the squad: Marcelo, Federico Valverde, Rodrygo and Odriozola.

• Real are maintaining their dominance in the air play: They are the team with the most headed goals in LaLiga this season, with 11 so far. In the absence of their ideal front line, set pieces and crosses to those arriving from deep was one of the key advantages against a Real Sociedad side who only win 50% of their aerial duels. There were chances and Mariano almost scored such a goal in the first half, when the ball hit the crossbar.

Tactical change turned out to be wrong

During the first half, Real Madrid played some of their best football of the season. They created chances and kept Real Sociedad on the ropes. But, Zidane didn’t like Real Madrid’s pressing technique, as he explained in a post-match interview, and he changed the system to drop Casemiro further back and to try to push the full-backs up.

But, Real Sociedad played their best football 10 minutes for the first 10 minutes of the second half and that’s when they scored. Real Madrid switched back to a 4-3-3 and was performing better again. Zidane was thinking about the pressing, but it turned out the other way atleast in this situation.

Zidane said this on his tactical change, “I changed it because I wasn’t happy with our pressing, we had to change things because, after an hour, the team was a bit tired. Sometimes we have to change things. In the end, you try to find things to change the dynamic.”

When asked whether the tactical change hurt his team, he said, “If you’ve asked me and that’s now three times, then yes, maybe.”

Derby

Zidane’s side is going to travel to the Wanda Metropolitano on Sunday. He is happy with the form of his team.

When asked about the match against Atletico, he said, “We have to remain calm, we had a good game and we had three or four chances to score.

“Patience, calm and rest. We were up against a team that creates chances against you,” he added.

He continued, “We have to carry on. It doesn’t change the way we go into the derby. We have to go there to have a great game.”