Real Sociedad are not yet assured of their place in the Europa League knockout stages, as they were to a damaging 3-1 defeat against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico.
Imanol Alguacil named his strongest line-up for the match in Rome, but it was a dreadful start for La Real as they fell behind inside the opening five minutes. Taty Castellano laid the ball off to former Real Madrid defender Mario Gila after a set piece, and the Spaniard fired back Alex Remiro and into the back of the net.
It would get even worse for La Real later in the first half as Javi Lopez was shown a second yellow card for a clumsy foul. To make matters worse, Lazio would go to on score twice in quick succession only a few moments later. First, Mattia Zaccagni netted after being set up by Gustav Isaksen, before Castellanos, who was on loan at Girona during the 2022-23 season, found the back of the net to add to his earliest assist.
At that point, it was damage limitation for Imanol and La Real. Brais Mendez, Mikel Oyarzabal, Martin Zubimendi and Takefusa Kubo were all taken off before the second half kicked on, with a view to them being fresh for the match against Getafe on Sunday. However, they did lose key defender Nayef Aguerd as he appeared to pick up a knock, for which he required to be susbtituted.
Impressively, that stopped the rot as Lazio were unable to find another goal, and La Real even managed to find the back of the net themselves as substitute Ander Barrenetxea netted from close range after Jon Aramburu had been denied from a tight angle.
The result means that Real Sociedad, who have now lost two matches in a row after last weekend’s defeat at Valencia, must win at home to PAOK next Thursday if they are to assure themselves of a place in the Europa League play-off round.
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