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10 min: Dalot curls a pass down the right for Hojlund, who battles hard to keep possession. Play’s switched to the left where Dorgu wins the first corner of the match. Fernandes swings it in, but it’s headed clear at the near post without too much drama.
8 min: A fairly quiet start to the game. Fernandes tries to release Dalot into space down the right but there’s nowhere to go and the move peters out.
6 min: A free kick for Sociedad out on the right. Kubo curls it in. Dalot heads half-clear. Barrenetxea returns the ball into the mixer from the left. Too long. Kubo tries again from the other side. He can neither get a cross in nor a shot away. United finally clear their lines.
4 min: Garnacho has started the game on the right. Hojlund fills in on the left with a direct dribble and low cross that’s easily cleared, but the run offers United some early hope.
2 min: Onana takes receipt of a Yoro backpass. Oyarzabal nearly closes him down, but is sent off to the nearest pintxos bar by the keeper’s elegant pirouette. Spinning on the ball and selling a dummy six yards from your own goal with little more than 60 seconds on the clock took some nerve.
Manchester United get the ball rolling. Their season in the balance. San Sebastian so beautiful in the spring.
The teams are out. Home hymns pinging off the walls of an atmospheric Anoeta. Real Sociedad in their blue and white stripes, Manchester United in red shirts and black shorts. Not long now: we’ll be off once pennants are swapped, coins tossed and hands clasped.
Ruben Amorim talks to TNT Sports. “We need to be really strong … especially at the beginning of the game … it will be really intense … they are ready … we have tried to manage the load … I know in the second half we will feel it a little bit [after extra time in the FA Cup last weekend] … we are excited to be here … we can cope with the physicality of the game … we watch the opponent and try to see the spaces … they put a high line and [Rasmus Højlund] can use this space … he needs to enjoy again playing football … to stay focused on the small things … he will be OK … we need possession of the ball … if we have the ball it is impossible to score against us … if we lose it in the build-up they are really strong and fast to go to the goal … we are prepared for that … we need to improve the way we have possession … that is the main focus.”
That aforementioned 4-0 win for United in 2021, then. You wouldn’t think Sociedad think of that rout fondly, but they do. Kind of. “They overran us so clearly; the difference was huge,” their keeper Alex Remiro explains. “We could compete in terms of play but physically they were better than us in everything. It finished 4-0 but it could have been seven or eight. We were awful. And watching them it was like: ‘Bloody hell, this is …’ It was: ‘Wow!’ … From that game, from that loss, we started to place more stress on the duels.”
Six weeks later, Real beat arch rivals Bilbao in the cup final, their first silverware in 34 years. United’s display of tough love forms just one part of this illuminating interview with the Sociedad stopper. Yet another Sid Lowe gem.
Manchester United make three changes to the side that started the FA Cup defeat to Fulham. Harry Maguire and Manuel Ugarte are injured, while Christan Eriksen drops to the bench. Patrick Dorgu, Casemiro and Alejandro Garnacho take their places.
Hosts Real Sociedad must do without star midfielder Martín Zubimendi, who is ill. But they’re boosted by the return of captain and leading goalscorer Mikel Oyarzabal.
The teams
Real Sociedad: Remiro, Elustondo, Aguerd, Zubeldia, Munoz, Sucic, Turrientes, Mendez, Kubo, Oyarzabal, Barrenetxea.
Subs: Marrero, Oskarsson, Becker, Lopez, Olasagasti, Gomez, Traore, Aramburu, Marin, Martin, Beitia, Mariezkurrena.
Manchester United: Onana, Mazraoui, de Ligt, Yoro, Dalot, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dorgu, Zirkzee, Hojlund, Garnacho.
Subs: Harrison, Lindelof, Eriksen, Heaven, Amass, Collyer, Mee.
Referee: Ivan Kruzliak (Slovakia).
Preamble
Manchester United are back, baby! No, not like that, unfortunately for their long-suffering fans. They are back in San Sebastian, though, where they’ll fancy themselves to keep their season alive. United won at Anoeta in 2022 thanks to Alejandro Garnacho’s first goal for the club; they drew there in 2013 despite Marouane Fellaini getting himself sent off. They also routed the Basques 4-0 away in 2021, albeit in Turin thanks to Covid. So their record on the road against Erreala is very good indeed.
That should give them succour, after their latest dispiriting performance against Fulham in the FA Cup last weekend. They’ll also be thankful that Sociedad aren’t quite up to their recent standards, languishing in mid-table in La Liga and coming off the back of a 4-0 thrashing at Barcelona. Although ninth place when compared to United’s 14th in the Premier … but let’s not belabour the point or put the boot in while the Red Devils are down. Suffice to say this could go either way, the current-form guide being of bugger all use, but history suggests United have a chance here to get things moving in the right direction again, and hold onto those Europa League dreams. Kick-off is at 5.45pm GMT. It’s on!
