The Royal Society has a tough nut to crack on his visit to PSV in Eindhoven, a rival who has won the four games they have played in their championship and against which the Txuriurdin seek to convey the good feelings with which they have started in LaLiga.
The donostiarras have a very difficult group ahead of them in which, due to budget and squad, it could be deduced that PSV, Unbeaten leader in the Eredivisie of the Netherlands and Monaco start with an advantage, although the good game and the defensive solvency of the Donostiarras invite their fans to dream.
Last season, Real overcame the group stage to fall in the round of 32 against runner-up Manchester United and this season the txuri urdin group hopes to go further in its continental adventure.
The team of Imanol Alguacil travels with many injuries and high morale after chaining three consecutive victoriesAll of them with a clean sheet, something that had not happened for 30 months and that is the basis for any success.
Ander Barrenetxea, Nacho Monreal, Diego Rico, Carlos Fernández and Jon Guridi are safe casualties, while Asier Illarramendi could begin to join the squad after overcoming his last injury, although this match comes too soon.
Not many changes are expected in the starting eleven with respect to the team that won in Cádiz, -maybe on the right side and the center midfield there may be news-, sincee scoring in the Netherlands seems decisive for the classification and the game against Sevilla this Sunday is in the background.
PSV Eindhoven arrives at the European competition with the impulse to count by victories the four games played so far in the Dutch league, which they lead
The numbers for the Eindhoven team at the start of the season are admirable. He won the Super Cup against Ajax last August (0-4), has scored fourteen goals and They conceded only three in the Eredivisie, and in the last game they beat AZ Alkmaar (0-3) at home.
its only setback was the defeat in the last qualifying round for the Champions League against Benfica (1-2 overall result), which led him to play in the Europa League.
Coach Roger Schmidt will suffer against Real Sociedad the important loss of Ibrahim Sangaré, a regular midfielder in his eleven who arrived injured from his commitment to the Ivory Coast team. His replacement could be the Frenchman Olivier Boscagli, who played a good game against AZ Alkmaar last Saturday.
Nor does it seem likely that midfielder Davy Pröpper and Argentine striker Maximiliano Romero will be able to recover in time, as both still suffer discomfort from their respective injuries.. In the high section, the versatile Ryan Thomas could reappear in the starting lineup.
It remains to be seen what happens to the center forward Carlos Vinícius, from Benfica. The Brazilian landed in Eindhoven on the last day of the transfer market And it has not been released yet because the Netherlands Immigration Office, until last week, was processing his work permit.
On the other hand, an old acquaintance of the Basque club plays in the ranks of PSV, Armindo Tué Na Bangna “Bruma & rdquor ;, who played on loan for the San Sebastian team in the 2015/16 season.
After passing through Galatasaray, Leipzig and Olympiakos, the Guinea-Bissau footballer has earned the confidence of coach Schmidt and has started two of the last four league games, in which he has scored two goals and given an assist.
Some 23,500 spectators -two thirds of the capacity- will attend the Philips Stadion, the maximum allowed by the authorities of the Netherlands due to the restrictions by the covid-19.
Probable lineups:
PSV Eindhoven: Drommel; Max, Bishop, Ramalho, Mwene; Boscagli, Van Ginkel; Gakpo, Götze, Bruma; Vinicius.
Real society: Remiro; Zaldua, Aritz, Le Normand, Muñoz; Zubimendi, Silva, Merino; Januzaj, Oyarzabal and Isak.
Referee: William Collum (Scottish)
Stadium: Philips Stadion
Hour: 21.00.