Manchester United’s 4-0 thumping of Real Sociedad in the first leg of this tie took some of the gloss off what has, in truth, been a wonderful first half of the season for the Spaniards.
After looking like genuine title contenders in the early stages of the campaign, Sociedad have succumbed to the powers that be in La Liga of late, now currently occupying fifth place in the division behind both Madrid teams, Barcelona and Sevilla.
As much as the romantic in all of us would like to see a team like Sociedad pip Spain’s elite to the title, this regression was always going to happen, with squad depth a huge factor when playing European ties on a regular basis.
Sociedad are still performing well in La Liga though, winning their last three league matches, unbeaten in their last five, and in fact, the side from the Basque Country have only been beaten five times in La Liga this season, with three of those defeats coming to teams in the league’s current top four.
Sociedad’s European performances have not matched that of their domestic however, making hard work of what was, in truth, a relatively easy group, only qualifying courtesy of a last-gasp Willian Jose equaliser on matchday six.
It was perhaps predictable then that Sociedad would succumb to a Manchester United side who were unbeaten in their five previous matches coming into the first leg of the tie, but the manner of the defeat was something of a surprise.
It is a bit surprising to see UNDER 2.5 GOALS the outsider of the two options in this fixture, currently available at a top price of 6/5, and that looks worth a bet in what is now effectively a dead rubber.
Score prediction: Manchester United 1-0 Real Sociedad ()
Odds correct at 1630 GMT (23/02/21)
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