Real Madrid 5 – 2 Real Sociedad – match review – as it happened

Real Madrid routed Real Sociedad with a 5-2 scoreline. An encouraging scoreline, and some great attacking play, but the defense still struggled. A recap.

First Half

It’s hard to imagine a better start from Real Madrid, as Los Blancos got on the scoresheet before a full minute of the match had transpired. Ronaldo displayed some vintage footwork at the edge of the box, and broke free to find Vázquez in the center. The diminutive Spaniard leapt in the air, and headed home, putting Madrid up one with about fifty seconds played. It’s the fastest that Madrid have scored thus far this season.

With that, Madrid smelled blood in the water, and began hunting for more goals. And goals they found, indeed! Madrid looked intense and focused, and were tearing apart Sociedad’s back line with ease. Madrid implemented a high press, and besides a few moments around the 5-10 minute mark, Madrid’s press kept Sociedad pinned back and kept Madrid on the front foot.

Ronaldo was responsible for Madrid’s second. Ronaldo was passed the ball in the center, completely surrounded, but beautifully held the ball up, dished out to Asensio who played Marcelo in with a silky pass. Marcelo pulls back hard to Ronaldo to slam it in. It was an absolutely beautiful team goal, something that has been too rare this season.

Madrid almost went up three twice in a row, first through a great counter-attack by Ronaldo which dragged the keeper out. Ronaldo passed to Benzema while the keeper was still struggling to keep up, but Benz’s powerful shot was deflected out for a corner. That corner produced another great opportunity as Ramos found Ronaldo in the box, but Ronaldo’s shot hit the post and out.

Finally Madrid managed to find their third, as Lucas Vázquez found Tony Kroos at the edge of the box. Kroos curled a beautiful shot into the top corner of the net, truly some EA Sports FIFA-esque skill shot action. 3-0 to Madrid.

Madrid weren’t done, though, as Ronaldo scored a fourth from a header in on a corner. At this point, you really had to wonder whether Madrid were playing really well, or Socieded were playing really bad. Probably a bit of both.

Second Half

Madrid were content to sit back for the opening strokes of the second half. Sociedad began growing into the match and started to create a bit more danger.Juanmi nearly put Sociedad on the scoresheet after a great header hit the post and out.

Madrid produced a few shots on the counter, including a great bouncing shot from Kroos after some beautiful play between Asensio and Vazquez. But overall, Madrid looked to be conserving energy, with the match well beyond Sociedad and PSG looming on the horizon.

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Around the 65th minute or so Zidane made two subs – Kovacic for Modric and Isco for Vazquez. That looked like it injected some life into Madrid, who were starting to look a bit flat. Not long after, Zidane introduced Bale and took off Asensio.

Real Madrid were looking shaky in defense the whole second half, and sure enough, the pressure eventually told. Carvajal was pulled in two directions in the center of the park, and Jon Bautista broke free in the box to slot past a helpless Keylor Navas. Another Madrid match, another match without a clean sheet. Alas.

Bale and Ronaldo began connecting well in the attacking third, producing a few dangerous opportunities. But overall, you could tell Madrid were looking to conserve energy.

Nevertheless, it didn’t prevent Madrid from picking up another goal on the break. Bale heads the ball down to Ronaldo, who dishes back out to Bale, Bale cuts in to shoot and the keeper pushes it meekly into Ronaldo’s way. CR7 makes no mistake. 5-1 Madrid.

Sociedad  answered almost immediately, as former Real Madrid midfielder Illarramendi found the back of the net for Sociedad’s second goal. Benzema could have done better to prevent Illarra from getting on the other end of the cross. The final scoreline: Real Madrid 5 – 2 Real Sociedad.

Final thoughts

Real Madrid were good. At times, scintillating. The attack absolutely dismantled Real Sociedad, and Cristiano Ronaldo put in arguably his best performance of the season thus far. Madrid fans will probably take a lot of confidence from this match, something that has been in short supply this season.

Next: Could Morata return to Madrid?

There’s reason for optimism for Madrid now heading into the match against PSG, but I would make that cautious optimism. Real Sociedad were truly poor against Madrid, and there’s no reason to think PSG would capitulate in that fashion. Additionally, despite delivering a thrashing, Madrid still managed to concede two goals from some sloppy defending. PSG will punish small errors like that.

Stay tuned to The Real Champs for player ratings, three takeaways, and more great coverage.