Real Madrid vs. Real Sociedad: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info
Real Madrid will host Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in La Liga on Saturday, hoping to cut an embarrassing 19-point gap to rivals Barcelona at the top of the table.
Champions Real are fourth and have struggled for form domestically. Meanwhile, Sociedad will arrive in the Spanish capital also in the mire, having won just two of their last six league games.
The Whites and Blues are 14th but do boast talent in attacking areas, evidenced by their recent 5-0 hammering of Deportivo La Coruna.
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Here are the schedule and viewing details, before a preview and look at the team news:
Date: Saturday, February 10
Time: 7:45 p.m. GMT/2:45 p.m. ET.
TV Info: Sky Sports Football, beIN Sports.
Live Stream: Sky Go, fubo Premier.
Questions abound about the state of mind of Los Blancos' best player, Cristiano Ronaldo. The prolific forward was less than impressed with manager Zinedine Zidane after being substituted during Real's 2-2 draw with Levante, per Martin Domin of the Daily Mirror.
Ronaldo hasn't been at his free-scoring best domestically, finding the net eight times in Spain's top flight. For his part, the 33-year-old has said he can still thrive at the "highest level," per a recent interview with GQ Italia (h/t Dan Gibbs of the Daily Express).
It would help if Los Blancos could rely on Gareth Bale to stay fit and for striker Karim Benzema to regain his peak form. Both started against Levante, but neither managed to find the net.
At least Zidane has close to a full squad to choose from, with only defender Jesus Vallejo and playmaker Dani Ceballos missing from the latest training session, according to the club's official website.
A motivated Ronaldo will surely prove too much for Sociedad, who will be without winger Adnan Januzaj, according to WhoScored.com. However, the visitors haven't been short of goals recently, with Sergio Canales and Willian Jose both on the scoresheet against Depor.
It doesn't help that the return of skipper Sergio Ramos hasn't stabilised Real's back four. The 31-year-old scored at Levante, but he needs to better organise a back line breached 21 times in as many matches.
Sociedad have the firepower to spring an upset, but home advantage should be enough for Los Blancos to get back to winning ways and cling on in the title race.
