Naples' visit to Anoeta brought the Real back to reality. The Italian side, with seamless performance, absolute concentration and magnificent defensive behavior, took advantage of a distant shot from Politano, which also diverted Sagnan, to get the points. The euphoria with which La Real arrived at the game was suddenly lowered by a Neapolitan squad that demonstrated the difficulty that the Europa League includes.
The Real did not take long to see that the dimension of what was in front of him was radically different from the usual landscape in the League. The time it took him to adjust almost meant he was below the scoreboard. In the first minutes of clear Italian dominance in which Real were unable to snatch the ball from those of Gattuso and, on the other hand, they lost it easily, the game turned over to Remiro's area. The Navarrese, above, made a serious mistake in the exit of the ball, handing it directly to Distinguished in the 7th minute. The captain, who does not usually fail on those occasions, entered through the vertex of the left area and finished over the goalkeeper with a thread towards the long post and the ball went out. The Real was saved, as it did again in another great action of Distinguished, which ended with an inside pass to Rui that, in hand to hand, stung out before Remiro.
The stress of the first quarter of an hour augured a disquieting match for the Real, but gaps began to open as a result of the injury of Distinguished. As without their captain they were somewhat lost, the Neapolitans took a step back, gave the field and the ball to the Real and, sheltered in a clear 4-4-2 in the middle block, decided to wait. His timid pressure allowed the Real to better carburete, which, from there to rest, struck regularly towards the area of Ospina. A territory, yes, difficult to tackle, perfectly tiled by the Italian rear.
All in all, at minute 23, Merino he was about to make it 1-0. In a play that Remiro It started with an inside ball with Navarro himself, Silva opened to Gorosabel whose center, reaching the area, nodded high Merino. It was the clearest option for a Real who had a hard time finding the last pass against the dense Napoli defense, who gave himself up to the set pieces as practically the only attack option. A distant shot of Oyarzabal that he left was the last realistic occasion.
La Real began the second half with the same determination but with similar problems as in the first act to gain an advantage over the last third of the field, what to say in the area. Suffice the example of a For your who reached the baseline but did not specify the center. When La Real seemed to have the party more under control, in addition, Politano he cracked the party plan txuri urdin. He combined with a teammate from the outside in and unleashed a left foot that Sagnan inadvertently diverted Remiro's network. The shock in the royalist ranks was significant.
Napoli fell back again, with more reason now, but it is that they also put Mertens, Oshimen Y Say Lorenzo, to take advantage of the spaces left by the Real, forced to risk. The txuri urdin squad had no qualms about continuing to attack and in minute 67 Ospina avoided the tie. Silva He left a good ball back to Portu inside the area, who finished off the short post at mid-height and the Colombian deflected a shot that went inside.
La Real, forced to manage the difficulties to attack Naples and the holes it left, never gave up. Imanol risked destroying three defenses and Barrenetxea extreme but it was difficult to unbalance the Italians. In 77, in a transition manufactured by Willian
José Y Silva, Oyarzabal was planted in the area of Ospina on the left but finished off.
Real was not able to beat Naples even in the final moments. The Italian team was clearly ahead, it ended up being a very strong squad that threatened with the second goal and Real died trying but with the same feeling of helplessness that accompanied the entire match.
Real Sociedad, 0: Remiro; Gorosabel (Barrenetxea, m. 78), Le Normand, Sagnan, Monreal; Guevara, Silva, Merino (Zubimendi, m. 78); Portu (Bautista, d. 67), Oyarzabal (Guridi, d. 85) and Isak (Willian José, d. 67).
Naples, 1: Ospina; Hysaj, Koulybaly, Maksimovic, Rui; Demme (Fabian, m. 88), Bakayoko, Lobotka (Mertens, m. 60); Politano (Oshimen, m. 60), Insigne (Lozano, m. 20) and Petagna (Di Lorenzo, m. 60).
Goals: 0-1: Politano (m. 54)
Referee: Craig Pawson (English). Yellow to Le Normand, Lozano and two to Oshimen, for which he was sent off in the 90th minute.
Stadium: Anoeta (without spectators).