Real Madrid and Real Sociedad will clash in one of the games on match day 38 in the Spanish La Liga.
As of the time of writing, Real Madrid are second on the log, and they have picked up 75 points from 34 games, while Real Sociedad have garnered 43 points from the same number of matches and are placed 11th on the log.
Real Madrid, who are the defending champions of this competition, faced some difficulties in the early stages of the season. Los Blancos lost scandalously to Barcelona in the El Clásico at their backyard, and they drew three games early on. Overall, it has been a turbulent season for Real Madrid, who have fallen short on many fronts this term. Carlo Ancelotti’s men have already lost to Barcelona in the Super Cup final and recently in the Copa Del Rey final too.
In Europe, they lost to Lille and AC Milan to put their qualification to the next round in jeopardy, but they recovered well to claim a place in the playoffs stage. They faced Manchester City and took them apart before battling past Atletico Madrid in the next stage. However, their run in the competition came to an end at the hands of Arsenal in the quarter-finals stage, who soundly beat them 5-1 on aggregate, including a 2-1 win at the Bernabeu.
Since those defeats to Arsenal, Madrid have struggled but managed to take three consecutive wins in the La Liga. They have been playing catch-up to Barcelona, who have opened a four-point lead at the top of the log with four games to go at the time of writing.
“We have competed and we will also compete at Barcelona in the upcoming LaLiga game. We will compete like we did tonight,” Ancelotti said after the Copa del Rey final defeat to Barcelona.
“We have to keep competing for the league title. We played a level game and were very close to lifting the cup. I’m hurt for not being able to lift the cup, but I have nothing to reproach my players because we played the game we had to play.”
Meanwhile, Real Sociedad have reached some heights under Imanol Alguacil, who will be leaving at the end of the season, in the past six years. They have played in Europe consistently in that period, and despite the challenges this season, they still have a spot in Europe within their reach with four games to go.
Real Sociedad started the season on a poor note with three defeats in their opening five games. The only win in that period was the 1-0 win at Espanyol courtesy of Take Kubo’s late goal. In the next two games, they failed to win. Their Europa League opener against Nice ended in a 1-1 draw. Another win in the league came in the 3-0 win over Valencia at home. Txuri-Urdinak won one of their next two games in the Europa League to remain in contention for a place in the second round. Two consecutive away wins in La Liga against Girona and Sevilla improved their point tally for the season.
Txuri-Urdinak’s best spell in the season came in late November when they won five competitive games in all competitions to show more improvements. After a narrow loss to Celta in the final game of 2024, Sociedad won their first three games in all competitions to begin the new year on a good note. However, they lost four of the next six games in all competitions as well, before winning four of the next five games to get the season back on track. At the time of writing, they have only won once in their past five La Liga matches.
Real Madrid are wounded lions after losing two titles to Barcelona already. They have the EL Clásico before this game, and that might determine the approach to this particular fixture. Well, considering that Los Blancos have not lost a La Liga home game to Txuri-Urdinak since 2004, they should be able to grind out a win at least.
Real Madrid and Real Sociedad have met 41 times since 2004. Real Madrid have won 27 times, Real Sociedad have won 7 times, and the remaining 7 meetings have ended in stalemates.
Match tickets
The epic match at Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid will be played on Sunday, 25th May 2025 at 20:00 GMT+1.
The magnificent 85,000-capacity stadium with its electrifying atmosphere will be ready to host this fixture.
Getting Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.
Team news
Lineups
Real Madrid do have their injury issues with the likes of Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao (out of season), and Dani Carvajal (out of season). With the shortage of CBs, Asencio and Tchouameni could be at the heart of the backline, while Vinicius and Mbappe will be expected to lead the attack with support from Bellingham and Valverde from the midfield.
Real Madrid possible XI: Courtois; Vazquez; Asencio, Alaba, Mendy; Valverde, Tchouameni, Ceballos; Bellingham; Vinicius, Mbappe.
At the time of writing, Arsen Zakharyan remains on the sidelines due to a thigh problem, while Orri Oskarsson, Igor Zubeldia, and Alvaro Odriozola are all doubts for this clash.
Real Sociedad possible XI: Remiro; Aramburu, Martin, Aguerd, Munoz; Kubo, Sucic, Zubimendi, Marin, S Gomez; Oyarzabal
Prediction
Real Madrid are in a straight fight for the La Liga title. It is the only realistic title for them this term, however, they still need Barcelona to drop points to claim it. So, this is a game of importance with respect to the outcome of the El Clásico. Getting Real Madrid tickets early is advisable.
Meanwhile, Sociedad may have been a disappointment this term, but they can still clinch a place in Europe if they can conjure some fine performances in the next few games. However, they have only won on the road once in their past four games.
However, Real Madrid’s dominance in the head-to-head and form should be enough to secure a routine home win.
Real Madrid 2-0 Real Sociedad