It’s hard to believe but la Real drew 1-1 on Matchday 4 of the UEFA Europa League group stage. Despite the fact that the txuri urdin created chances and could have won comfortably, it was a lack of accuracy that did for the side at the Reale Arena. The realistas took one point and must give it their all in the rest of the games of this group stage.
The txuri urdin were the better side from minute one. Imanol’s team created many scoring chances. Silva’s header went wide, Januzaj’s shot hit a defender, Portu’s shot was denied by a defender and continuous crosses from Aihen didn’t find a striker. La Real forgave and paid for it. The Austrian side took the lead through Jantscher in a good counterattack. La Real were losing at the break. Unbelievable.
La Real went out all guns blazing in the second half. The txuri urdin response took no time at all and the game was level almost immediately. Sørloth nipped in to turn home past the keeper. The draw intensified the total dominance of the realistas who created endless chances, one after another. Merino was close to add a second after a corner kick but a defender took the ball from the same line. Amazing. La Real continued looking for the winning goal. They deserved to score as they put a great performance in all aspects: quality, play, chances. Zubimendi also tried his luck but the Sturm defense did a good job. Then, Isak fizzed the ball across goal and narrowly missed.
The realistas come away with a bit of a bitter taste. To have picked up a point is a disappointment. We deserved the victory and must have won but this is Europe and we’ve got to keep going! Aupa, Real!
Match sheet:
Real Sociedad: Remiro, Gorosabel, Zubeldia, Le Normand, Aihen (Rico, min.83), Zubimendi, Merino (cap), Silva, Januzaj, Portu (Barrentexea, min.65) and Sorloth (Isak, min.83).
SK Sturm Graz: Siebenhandl, Jager, Geyrhofer, Wuthrich, Dante, Affengruber, Ljubic, Prass, Niangbo (Wels, min.83), Sarkaria and Jantscher (cap)(Kuen, min.72).
Goals: 0-1: Jantscher, min.38. 1-1: Sorloth, min.53.
Referee: Treimanis (Latvia). Booked Zubimendi for Real Sociedad and Wuhtrich, Kuen and Siebenhandl for Sturm Graz.
Attendance: 25,010 spectators.