Real Madrid 0-0 Real Sociedad: Disappointment for Real Madrid. At home, Carlo Ancelotti’s team fell short of breaking down Real Sociedad’s wall. The visitors took a result back to the Basque Country that they presumably signed for when they arrived in the capital: a draw.
The first chance, however, was for the blue and white visitors. Mikel Oyarzabal found some space for himself, thought Aihen Muñoz who passed Alexander Sørloth. The Norwegian missed an imposed opportunity. Vinícius Júnior was also in shape. The Brazilian gated a defender, but curled wide. After Asier Illarramendi had a chance to hurt his old team but shot centimeters wide, some calm set in. Not that it got boring, Madrid tried to press, Sociedad was regularly threatening on the counter.
The visitors were no longer able to do that after the break. Ancelotti’s team put a lot of pressure on, but Vinícius, Rodrygo and Federico Valverde could not break the spell. Because that did not work, confidence grew again at Sociedad, especially, the Japanese Takefusa Kubo caused a lot of danger. Thibaut Courtois, however, always had an answer.
The game remained entertaining: Real Madrid the more dangerous, but also with enough threat from Real Sociedad, that proved not to have climbed to third place in La Liga just like that. A handful of minutes of stoppage time also ended without goals, so that the Madrilenians are now five points behind leader Barcelona. Sociedad has eight fewer than the Catalan leader.
Celta Vigo 1-0 Athletic Bilbao
Iñaki Williams was not there when Athletic Bilbao took on Celta de Vigo in a northern Spanish get-together on Sunday evening. That is rightly news, because the attacker remains outside the red and white for the first time in 251 league games.
On April 7, 2016, Williams had to be absent, and now, almost seven (!) years later, that bizarrely long series is over. Several times it was about whether or not Williams was fit enough to play a role, but he was always there. Knee complaints mean that he really had to fit for this match.
This ends an impressive record streak. No one else has played so many games in a row in the history of La Liga. Not a field player, but also not a goalkeeper, although they are usually less prone to injury. Williams took over the record from Juan Antonio Larrañaga, a defender of arch-rival Real Sociedad.
