This is one outlet's own report from Yahoo Sports — the article as it was filed.
AIPROPX ReportYahoo Sports · 42m ago
Three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad
Three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad | La Liga MD2
Real Madrid’s matchday 1 fixture in La Liga was postponed given the large number of internationals and their late return after the FIFA World Cup, and the team directly played their second match day clash at the weekend against Espanyol.
Their deferred matchday 1 clash is now set to be played midweek, and Real Madrid will be playing host to Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabeu for the same.
La Real kicked off their new league season in disappointing fashion, losing 1-0 to Real Betis away from home.
Having not even enjoyed a great league campaign last season, Pellegrino Matarazzo’s men will be keen on opening their account for the season tomorrow and gaining some momentum.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad.
Back to the fortress
Over three months have elapsed since Real Madrid’s last game at the Santiago Bernabeu which came against Athletic Club de Bilbao in late May.
Real Madrid will host Real Sociedad at Santiago Bernabeu. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
On that night, Los Blancos had a certain Alvaro Arbeloa on the sidelines in what ended up being his final game as the Real Madrid manager. Dani Carvajal captained the team and bid farewell to the club of his dreams on that night, as did Dani Ceballos who came on as a substitute.
A lot has changed since that fateful day. Tomorrow, the men in white return to the grass at the Bernabeu, and there will be a lot for the fans to process in terms of how the team has been upgraded.
For starters, the clash tomorrow night marks Jose Mourinho’s first game at the Bernabeu back as the Real Madrid manager, and it will be interesting to see how the crowd welcome the ‘Special One’.
Concurrently, the crowd will also witness the new signings taking to the field at the historic venue for the first time.
Marc Cucurella, Real Madrid’s only representative from the World Cup-winning Spanish national team, will be welcomed as a new player by the club faithful while Denzel Dumfries, Bernardo Silva, Carlos Espi, Ibrahima Konate and Yan Diomande will also look to impress the Bernabeu in their first appearances there.
A lot of the storylines ahead of Real Madrid’s clash against Real Sociedad, thus, revolve around the new-look team returning home for the first time and how the fans will receive them.
Focus on Vinicius and Mbappe
All eyes will be on Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
Both Vinicius Jr. and Kylian Mbappe started at the RCDE Stadium during Real Madrid’s game against Espanyol last weekend. Neither player, however, managed to leave their mark.
Both players cut out frustrated figures on the night, albeit for different reasons, and looked like a shadow of their best versions. As the talismans of this Real Madrid side, however, they do not have the liberty to continue that for long.
Mbappe struggled to finish off his chances against the Catalan side and made nothing of an xG of 1.53. Needless to say, that is uncharacteristic of him and it remains unclear if the player was not match-fit or had an off-day.
Vinicius, meanwhile, was nowhere close to influential and created no direct or indirect goalscoring opportunities. His dribbles did not carry their usual flair and his link-up play was uncharacteristically poor.
Beyond the fact that both players had individually poor nights, they also showed no signs of synergy or understanding between each other. At this one, it is beginning to look like both players are threatened by the other instead of using their presence to get to the next level.
One of the biggest factors behind bringing in Jose Mourinho was the manager’s experience and ability to bring the best out of players keeping their egos aside.
As Real Madrid prepare to step onto the field tomorrow night, it is clear that there will be extra focus on Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr., both on an individual level and as a duo working towards a common objective.
The Diomande dilemma
Will Yan Diomande start vs Real Sociedad? (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Yan Diomande’s transfer to Real Madrid broke several club records as he became the team’s costliest ever transfer in history. With that price tag, however, also comes great expectation – one of which is that the player must be a regular starter and contributor.
For all the hype around Diomande, however, Mourinho started the player on the bench at the weekend and placed Arda Guler in his place instead. Not only did the Turkish star have a good game but he was even the team’s best player by some distance as a creative force and controlling presence.
To add to the situation, Diomande’s cameo after coming on for Guler against Espanyol was woeful and showed no signs of promise.
It thus remains to be seen if Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho reward Guler for his strong showing tomorrow or buy into Diomande’s price tag and see it as fitting for the new signing to start.
After all, removing Guler from the lineup strips the team of their only creative powerhouse, but keeping the Turk on the field denies them from fielding their record signing. Having both stars on the field together, meanwhile, is also complicated given that Jude Bellingham is non-negotiable as the attacking midfielder.
Mourinho, thus, faces a dilemma that he must find a way out of soon.
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.
