Imanol’s Real, to the rhythm of Montanier’s Champions League

Imanol Alguacil’s Real Sociedad made its way through this national league championship to the rhythm of qualifying for the Champions League of Phillipe Montanier’s Real Sociedad. While many continue to question the value of what the Txuri-urdin team is doing this season, because their game is not as brilliant as in previous campaigns with the coach from Oriotarra; the numbers, always stubborn, do not stop proving the work that is being carried out so far at the Zubieta facilities.

That this Real, after having reached the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey and having lost in the round of 32 of the Europa League against one of the current powerful teams on the continent, is disputing its third consecutive European qualification, is not without an incalculable value, and what if it is not valued as it should is that the history of the San Sebastian club is not known.

Because to what was said above, we must add that the 51 points with which Real de Imanol has reached matchday 30 of this league allows them to match at this point the trajectory that the San Sebastian team took with Phillipe Montanier in the historic 2012-13 season in which they achieved the last classification for the Champions League of its history. And with the season so advanced, those numbers of this Real de Imanol are big words. The French coach’s Txuri-urdin team added 15 of the last 24 points to reach fourth place on the last day. So the challenge for Imanol’s men is on the table, to win five of the eight games they have left, because that could be enough to repeat the feat they did in 2013 when they won on the last day at Riazor. Bearing in mind that they will face direct rivals such as Atlético, Betis, Villarreal and Barça on the way, these victories may be enough to dream of the Champions League again.

Be that as it may, this Real de Imanol, with its defensive solvency and making the most of its goals, is situated with the second best points record at this point since 1995, when the three-point score was launched instead of the value of two that the victories had before. They are only surpassed by Raynald Denueix’s unforgettable Real Sociedad, who finished runner-up in the league fighting for the title until the last day.

Tied on points with the 51 of the Real de Montanier, the current royalist team surpasses other well-remembered Real teams such as Bernd Krauss’s, which came third in the 97-98 season, or Eusebio Sacristán’s, which reached sixth place in extremis in Vigo in the 2016-17 campaign, practicing with very colorful football. But above all, what Imanol is doing is surpassing themselves in a spectacular way. And considering that it is his third season, all of them with the demand to fight for Europe, it has tremendous merit.