This weekend in La Liga, as Real Sociedad hosts Real Madrid, the two longest current unbeaten streaks in league play come to a head. Neither team has lost in its last seven matches as Sociedad have picked up four wins and three draws while Real Madrid have won seven in a row. Sociedad are doing it under American manager Pellegrino Matarazzo in a turnaround that is nothing short of impressive.
How to watch Real Madrid vs. Real Sociedad, odds
- Date: Saturday, Feb. 14 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Location: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu — Madrid, Spain
- Live stream: ESPN+
- Odds: Real Madrid -263; Draw +425; Real Sociedad +600
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The American manager took over the club ahead of the LaLiga winter break, replacing Sergio Francisco, who had the team closer to the relegation zone than the European places in LaLiga. But fast forward nine matches and Matarazzo’s team haven’t lost a single match under his leadership. Mattarazo spent over a year out of a job after being let go by Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga, but he’s in the midst of one of his best spells as a manager while getting acclimated to LaLiga.
While with Hoffenheim, Mattarazo was reportedly linked to the United States men’s national team job before Mauricio Pochettino was hired, but opted to stay at the club. And with how things are going currently, both for the USMNT and Sociedad, that may be for the best. Below is a chart of Sociedad’s Expected Goals trends for the last 29 matches, and it’s clear where Mattarazo took over.
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Looking at the improvements around match 20 on the chart, he has this team performing to the top of their abilities without making major changes to personnel. New manager bounces are one thing, but Real Sociedad have already beaten Barcelona and drawn Atletico Madrid under Matarazzo and are now 90 minutes from making an appearance in the Copa Del Rey final.
He’s already made history as the first American manager in LaLiga, and while it’s a short list of American managers to take the reins in a top five league, if he can keep this up, Matarazzo can become the first American manager to manage in European competition since Jesse Marsch and David Wagner did it during the 2021-22 season with Red Bull Leipzig and Young Boys respectively.
After selling stars like Alexander Isak, Mikel Merino, and Martin Zubimendi to the Premier League, Sociedad needed a rebuild, and Matarazzo has been the right guy for the job so far, helping put their academy players into the best position to succeed while getting the most out of additions like Goncalo Guedes.
For their next task, Sociedad will need to push their press to the next level in order to get past yet another new manager in Alvaro Arbeola’s Real Madrid. Even with that seven-match winning streak in LaLiga, Real Madrid have been vulnerable, relying on Kylian Mbappe’s unstoppable form in attack to get them through matches. But with the Frenchman missing two consecutive training sessions due to a knee injury, he could be a game-time decision, raising Sociedad’s chances of winning the match.
Mbappe has 23 LaLiga goals and 38 goals in all competitions this season, and while you always want to beat a team when they’re at their best, no one wants to attempt to defend against Mbappe when he’s in this form. Real Sociedad’s press will give them a chance to keep this close, but even if this is where Matarazzo’s run comes to an end, the effects of his management are already being seen.
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Real Sociedad have risen to eighth place in LaLiga, only three points out of a Europa Conference League place, and there’s no reason why they can’t dream of overtaking Real Betis for a Europa Leauge spot. Things that felt improbable could be in reach if what Matarazzo has built can continue to be something sustainable in the long haul.
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