Kubo Back With the Ball at His Feet — But Will He Make Real Sociedad's Copa del Rey Semi Return Leg?
Take Kubo has returned to individual ball work at Zubieta after over a month out, with Real Sociedad's Copa del Rey semi second leg against Athletic looming.
Takefusa Kubo is touching a ball again — and that’s genuinely exciting news for Real Sociedad fans who’ve had to watch their best player sit out over a month of football.
What’s the situation?
Kubo picked up a serious muscular injury during the match against Barcelona on 18 January, leaving the pitch on a stretcher in scenes that had every txuri-urdin fan holding their breath. Since then? Radio silence. The club have barely let a single image of him slip out from their day-to-day Zubieta sessions — until now.
The latest training footage from the club shows the Japanese winger doing individual ball work on the grass. He’s not in full training with the squad yet, but it’s a proper step forward. Given the typical six-to-eight week recovery window for this type of injury, the timing actually lines up.
Can he make the Copa del Rey semi second leg?
Here’s where it gets interesting. Real Sociedad host Athletic Club at Anoeta next Wednesday in the return leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final — and the question everyone’s asking is whether Kubo will be fit enough for Pellegrino Matarazzo to call on him.
Let’s be honest about it:
- Unlikely, but not impossible. He’s only doing individual work right now, and there’s less than a week to go.
- Kubo would need to integrate back into full group training, pass fitness tests, and convince the coaching staff he’s ready — all in a matter of days.
- After a muscle injury of this severity, rushing him back for one game — even a massive one — carries real risk.
Matarazzo is not the sort of manager who’d throw a player back in before they’re ready, so don’t go pencilling Kubo into your fantasy XI just yet.
Where has he been?
After the injury, Kubo actually flew back to Japan with the club’s blessing to begin his recovery there — which explains why he’s been so absent from the usual Zubieta media content. He returned to San Sebastián at the start of February and has been working his way back quietly ever since.
The fact that the club have now allowed images of him with the ball to surface feels deliberate — a gentle signal that the end of his absence is in sight.
The bigger picture
Even if he misses Wednesday’s second leg, the good news is that Kubo’s return feels genuinely close now. For a Real Sociedad side that has missed his creativity and directness enormously, getting their main man back — even for the final stretch of the season — could be massive.
Watch this space. The lad’s nearly there.