La Real seeks to end its European drought in Salzburg
The Basques visit the leader of their group after a painful draw and with the aim of winning the Champions League again 20 years later
MADRID, 2 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) – .
Real Sociedad will visit Austrian Salzburg this Tuesday (6:45 p.m.) on the second day of the group stage of the 2023-2024 Champions League, a duel they arrive at after tying in the final stretch of their continental debut and with the intention to win again in the European competition 20 years later, while the locals will want to delve into the continental wound of the Basques to confirm and strengthen their leadership of the group.
Imanol Alguacil’s pupils face the second continental test of the season with the bitter memory of the draw (1-1) in their home debut two weeks ago. The ‘txuri urdin’, boosted by Brais Méndez’s early goal, were better than Inter Milan, who however scratched a point from their visit to the Reale Arena with a goal in the final minutes by Lautaro Martínez.
However, that first continental setback seems to have been a turning point in San Sebastián, since their next three and last games were won. Thus, Real won (4-3) in a crazy match against Getafe, and then achieved two victories against important rivals such as Valencia in Mestalla (0-1) and Athletic Club, going over (3-0) of the ‘lions’ in the exciting Basque derby.
In that last victory, in which the people of San Sebastián were able to dose their efforts in a few weeks full of commitments, those of Alguacil loaded their backpack with confidence at the right time. And the Basques must improve their away record in the Champions League, since they have lost their last four away games.
If they lose this Tuesday, they could equal the worst streak of away defeats (5) for a Spanish team, established by Villarreal CF between April 2009 and September 2021.
And Real Sociedad has now gone 13 games without winning in the Champions League – the longest streak of a Spanish team in the history of the top European competition – since their last victory was against Galatasaray on September 30, 2003. So the goal of ending this dangerous drought will be ambitious enough to jump onto the Austrian grass with extra motivation.
In the casualties section, that of left back Kieran Tierney joins those of Merquelanz and Odriozola. Muñoz will enter for the Scotsman in an eleven with few rotations, with Zubimendi and Brais Méndez as engines in the center of the field, also serving as balls to Take Kubo -5 goals and 3 assists in 10 games- and Mikel Oyarzabal who are sweet .
However, they will face a very in tune Salzburg, leader of the group after beating Portuguese Benfica (0-2) in one of the surprises of the day. With only one defeat so far this year, the team coached by Gerhard Struber arrives with two 4-0 wins in its last two games, in the Cup and League.
A very positive balance that reinforces that sensational start to the European competition, a positive trend that they will want to maintain at home, even if the Spanish teams are not very good at it. And the Austrian team has only won 1 of its last 7 games against LaLiga teams, the last one against Sevilla in December 2021.
In the previous direct confrontations against Real, the last time both teams met was in the 2017-18 season, in the round of 32 of the Europa League, when the ‘energetics’ tied (2-2) at the Reale Arena and They won (2-1) in the second leg, eliminating the Basque team in that edition.
DATASHEET.
–POSIBLE ALIGNMENTS.
SALZBURG: Schlager; Dedic, Pavlovic, Baidoo, Terzic; Bidstrup, Gourna-Douath, Kjaergaard; Gloukh, Simic and Konaté.
REAL SOCIEDAD: Remiro; Traoré, Zubeldia, Le Normand, Muñoz; Brais Méndez, Zubimendi, Merino; Kubo, Oyarzabal and Sadiq.
–ÁRBITRO: Bartosz Frankowski (POL).
–STADIUM: Red Bull Arena ().
–TIME: 18.45/ Movistar Champions League.