Real Sociedad held Real Madrid to a scoreless draw on Sunday at the Santiago Bernabeu, dropping them five points behind La Liga’s champions Barcelona. For the best sports betting casinos for February 2023, check out the CasinoDaddy pages!
Madrid controlled the first half but failed to score despite their dominance. Early on, Vinicius Junior missed a shot, and just before halftime, Alex Remiro made a save to deny him from scoring. Vinicius and Rodrygo had opportunities to score after the interval, but Remiro again came to the rescue, keeping Madrid at a point.
Brazilian players for Madrid struggle to put the game away.
The goal-scoring duties for Real Madrid are split between Vinicius and Rodrygo since Karim Benzema isn’t quite at his best. On Sunday, they consistently posed a threat to the La Real defense, with each of Madrid’s finest offensive opportunities coming from one or the other.
After scoring a candidate for goal of the season in the Thursday Madrid derby, Rodrigo’s confidence is through the roof, and he brought that form into this match. He was the finest player on the field in the first half and remained a danger in the second. Only defender Igor Zubeldia’s leaping block prevented him from scoring.
Vinicius failed to take advantage of the circumstances he put himself in. After nutmegging Zubeldia in the first half, he fired wide and was unable to score when one-on-one with Remiro. Later, he had further opportunities, but Remiro stood his ground and snatched Vini’s effort to sweep the ball over the goalkeeper.
In the end, neither player was successful in getting past Remiro, although they both gave it their all.
Due to a full-back injury crisis, which includes the absence of David Alaba, Ferland Mendy, Lucas Vazquez, and Toni Kroos, as well as midfielders Toni Kroos and Luka Modric’s midseason form slump, Eduardo Camavinga and Dani Ceballos have a priceless opportunity this month to demonstrate their value to this Real Madrid team.
When Mendy injured himself against Atletico Madrid, Camavinga impressed in the position and was chosen to play left-back. Although it’s unlikely to be his primary position given his abilities as a dynamic box-to-box midfielder, the France international appears to be a good backup option on this small sample size, especially when able to move forward.
Ceballos has never felt more like a Real Madrid player, in the meanwhile. After joining from Real Betis five and a half years ago, he is now finally enjoying a run of midfield matches and appears to be loving every minute of it. He started against Athletic Club a week earlier, excelled off the bench against Atletico, and was a consistent, industrious midfield presence here after coming off the bench to win Madrid’s Copa del Rey match against Villarreal on January 19.
Even though Ceballos’ current contract is set to expire this summer, he couldn’t have made a stronger argument for a contract extension. You still question if he has what it takes to start for Madrid every week.
Real Sociedad, which is arguably the third-best team in the league after Barcelona and Madrid, has been one of the season’s most interesting tales in LaLiga, and they proved tonight that they are more than capable of contending with the top two.
In truth, if La Real’s center-forward Alexander Sorloth had seized two good chances that presented themselves, one in each half, the team may have won all three points. If the Basque squad wants to advance further and consistently put up a fight against Barca and Madrid, his position needs to be enhanced.
Due to the depth of native talent on this team, it survived when two of its greatest players, Mikel Oyarzabal and Brais Mendez, gave below-par performances. Takefusa Kubo, a former Madrid player, may have been La Real’s greatest forward player on this particular night as their tenacious defense wowed. None of La Real’s forward players truly stood out.
At center defense, Zubeldia and Robin Le Normand were excellent, while Remiro, who was frequently erratic, made several key stops to keep them in the game. La Real are known for playing an attacking style of football, but in this match, they displayed another aspect of their talent and duly earned a point to leave the Bernabeu.
