By Karl Matchett
Carlo Ancelotti’s balancing act
With the Uefa Super Cup already in the bag, Real Madrid lost out on a chance to make it two trophies from two with the Spanish Supercopa over the winter. However, they are in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, the quarter-finals of the Champions League and in the top two of LaLiga, it can still be a massive and historic season for Los Blancos if they keep momentum and stay fortunate with fitness.
With so many games still to play it hasn’t been a surprise to see Carlo Ancelotti shuffle his pack a little – Vinícius Júnior, Federico Valverde and Rodrygo were all used off the bench at the weekend. Following this match though it’s Valencia and Arsenal coming up so chances to rest or rotate further might become more sparse – but in the cup there’s no margin for error.
All or nothing for La Real
While Madrid are chasing everything, Real Sociedad have let their season drift and this is last-chance saloon for it to be a worthwhile one – or to play in Europe next term. A six-match winless streak was at least ended at the weekend but La Real are out of the Europa League and lost the first leg of this tie 1-0 at home a month ago. Sat in tenth in the league, they must go all-in to cause a huge shock here or else their campaign effectively ends in early April.
Recent form
Five wins in a row for Madrid, and one “home team” defeat since 5 November – but even that was actually a neutral venue used to host the Supercup final against Barcelona. The only teams La Real have beaten away from home in 2025 are Ponferradina in the cup and Midtjylland in Europe. This will be tough.
Team news
Three long-term injuries and two doubts for Real Madrid. Dani Ceballos probably won’t play anyway, but Thibaut Courtois could in theory be pushed if he’s deemed close enough, given it’s a semi-final. However since Andrii Lunin has played in the Copa so far it would be a surprise to see any risks taken in goal.
For La Real, Brais Méndez, Nayef Aguerd, Sheraldo Becker and Arsen Zakharyan are all out, with Jon Pacheco the other doubt in the squad.
Key player
Real Madrid don’t have to go all guns blazing here and can bide their time, which means Antonio Rüdiger keeping the ship steady will be priority number one at the back while the attackers await their moment to pounce. The German doesn’t necessarily win a whole lot of his duels (2.8 per 90 on the ground and only 57% of his aerials) so he may need an improvement on the night there, but it’s really his recovery running and organisation of others where Los Blancos benefit most.
Prediction
Home advantage and a first-leg lead skews the tie hugely in Real Madrid’s favour and Los Blancos are unlikely to let this moment slip. Real Madrid 2-1 Real Sociedad (3-1 agg).
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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