The trip to San Sebastian proved to be a successful one as Real Madrid eked out a narrow victory over Real Sociedad to secure the three points. Carlo Ancelotti fielded a heavily rotated lineup, making as many as 9 changes to the team that took on FC Barcelona last weekend.
Arda Güler made his first start for the club while Éder Militão returned to the starting eleven for the first time since August. Fran García and Dani Ceballos were also amongst the other notable changes.
The Turkish youngster got off to a shaky start, receiving a yellow card in the 15th minute of the game. Güler, however, shook the nervousness off and after a pinpoint cross from Dani Carvajal, the 19-year old scored his second goal for the Merengues and also put the away side in the lead.
Sociedad thought that they had equalised just four minutes later after former Madrid player and Japanese winger, Takefusa Kubo found the back of the net. But the goal was ruled out after referee José Luis Munera Montero consulted with the VAR and found that there was a foul committed on Tchouaméni just outside the box.
The home side was desperate for a win in order to continue their quest to ensure a spot for next season’s UEFA Europa League. Mikel Merino thought he had finally scored the equaliser but he soon saw the dreaded offside flag go up as another attempt to square the game went begging.
Kepa Arrizabalaga – making a start for the first time since January – did not make any mistakes whatsoever as he also kept out a shot by Beñat Turrientes’, which the Spaniard took from the edge of the box.
Federico Valverde, Vinícius, Rüdiger, Camavinga and Lucas Vazquez came on late in the 2nd half but neither did have any significant impact on the game.
Carlo Ancelotti can breathe a sigh of relief as an almost second-string Madrid emerged victorious in a tough game at the Reale Arena. This victory also means that Real Madrid can clinch the La Liga title as early as the next match day against Cádiz – if FC Barcelona drop points against Valencia on Monday.
But for now, Los Blancos shift their attention to the ‘European Clasico’ as they travel to Germany to take on Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in the 1st leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final.
