Real Sociedad: Scoring Goals for Fun But Leaking Them Just as Fast

Real Sociedad’s season in one line: brilliant going forward, a nightmare at the back. It’s equal parts exciting and maddening, and the numbers don’t lie.

The Good News First

Under Pellegrino Matarazzo, the Basques have genuinely sorted out their attacking woes. Before he arrived, they were sitting ninth in La Liga’s scoring charts — a pretty grim return for a side with their quality. Since the American-Italian took over, they’ve been banging them in at two goals per game across his eight matches in charge, lifting them to sixth in the goals-scored table with 37 for the season.

Only the top five clubs in the entire division — your Barcelonas, Real Madrids, Villarreals, Atléticos and Betis — have scored more. That’s decent company, and it tells you Matarazzo has genuinely unlocked something going forward.

The Bad News

Here’s where it gets a bit painful. Real Sociedad have also conceded 38 goals — making them the sixth-leakiest side in La Liga. That’s nearly as many as the three relegation-zone clubs and comparable to the likes of Valencia and Sevilla, who are having absolute nightmares of seasons.

The defensive fragility isn’t new, either:

• Under Sergio Francisco (plus a brief spell with interim Jon Ansotegi), they were already conceding 1.5 goals per game by Christmas
• Under Matarazzo, that’s actually worsened to 1.6 per game
• They’ve kept exactly one clean sheet in 25 La Liga matches all season — a 1-0 win over Mallorca back in September. Five months ago. Blimey.

So the new gaffer has fixed one problem but hasn’t touched the other. You’d take the trade-off if you had to choose, but ideally you’d want both sorted.

Copa del Rey: A Glimmer of Hope

Interestingly, it’s in the Copa where Real Sociedad have shown they can keep things tight when it matters. After a chaotic 2-2 at Anoeta and a 2-3 defeat at Mendizorroza, they managed a crucial 0-1 win at San Mamés in the Copa semi-final first leg against Athletic Club — their best defensive display of the campaign in a high-stakes moment.

The Fixtures That Could Define Their Season

Here’s a lovely bit of coincidence: the two teams Real Sociedad haven’t conceded against all season are Mallorca and Athletic Club — and they’re up against both of them next, in La Liga and the Copa respectively.

If they can keep it tight in those two games, they’re in brilliant shape. The Copa final is the big prize, and with a one-goal advantage heading into the second leg at Anoeta, it’s very much in their hands.

The Jekyll and Hyde act has been entertaining, but at some point the defence has to show up. Now would be a very good time.