Atletico and Real Sociedad face each other in an all-La Liga friendly in Mexico. The most recent meeting between the two teams occurred on the final weekend of the 2022–23 campaign, with Atletico winning 2-1.
Preview (Atletico vs Real Sociedad)
Atletico Madrid has displayed both their best and worst sides thus far in preseason play after yet another third-place finish in La Liga. In the first of their friendlies, Diego Simeone’s team unexpectedly fell short 3-2 to a K-League All-Star team despite being ahead with 89 minutes remaining. Atleti, though, made up for that late failure on Sunday by defeating a Manchester City team that was playing at full strength. The Colchoneros will play in the Champions League once more. There will undoubtedly be movement in the transfer market. As a result, the starting lineup against Granada on the first Monday of the new season may look very different.
But before La Liga begins, there are still two more friendlies to play, including a match on Saturday against Sevilla. In the season’s final nine games, only Atletico Madrid defeated Real Sociedad. The San Sebastian team participated in the Champions League for the first time in 11 years thanks to an outstanding 20 points out of a possible 27 at the end of the season. La Real, meanwhile, has had a somewhat poor start to the preseason, suffering two painful losses upon returning to play. Osasuna defeated Imanol Alguacil’s team 3-1 with a hat-trick from Alejandro Catena. Although Sporting Lisbon humiliated the Spaniards 3-0 the next week. However, Real Sociedad’s lone goal against Bayer Leverkusen on Friday night gave them their first preseason victory. In addition to playing Real Betis in their final preseason match on the weekend, La Real will begin their La Liga campaign against Girona.
Team News
Over the past two weeks, the Atletico Madrid defensive trio of Cesar Azpilicueta, Caglar Soyuncu, and Javi Galan have all made their debuts. Given the present injury issue Simeone is dealing with at the back, where Jose Maria Gimenez, Reinildo, Nahuel Molina, and Stefan Savic are all currently injured, their presence is required. Memphis Depay scored in their victory over Man City over the weekend while playing his first preseason minutes. Joao Felix has returned from his loan assignment with Chelsea, however, he was not deployed in the starting lineup against City after being a substitute against the K-League All-Stars.
The sole major newcomer at Real Sociedad this summer was full-back Hamari Traore, who just played 41 minutes against Leverkusen. Andoni Gorosabel was not present for the match against the German team. Alguacil has a squad that is largely fully functional. David Silva announced his retirement from football last week. Real Sociedad fans won’t get the opportunity to watch him play at Anoeta again this year. It’s unknown how Atletico will perform here after two highly divisive preseason performances. They will be put to the test by a Real Sociedad team that’s usually competitive.
Atletico Madrid 1 – 1 Real Sociedad
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