The final, 38th round of the La Liga brings us a match between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad at Santiago Bernabeu.
Facts
- First match: Real Sociedad - Real Madrid 0-2.
- These two faced each other in the Copa del Rey - Real Madrid advanced with a 5-4 score on aggregate.
- Madrid has won three consecutive matches against Sociedad, with just one win for the Basque side in their last 11 against Madrid.
- Just two of their last seven duels have ended with BTTS.
- Madrid has the second-best home record in the league, winning 15 of 18.
- Sociedad is the team with the fewest games where BTTS came through (10/37).
Betting Tip: Real Madrid - Real Sociedad
Plenty of goodbyes in this game, as both managers will be leading their teams for the last time, and perhaps Madrid legends like Modric will also be departing. Both teams are expected to give opportunities to younger players and play attacking football. We are going with over 3.5 goals.
- Prediction: Over 3.5
- Odds: 2.27 (at the time of writing)
- Stake: 5
Real Madrid
Real Madrid managed to come away with a win from a very forgettable away game at Sevilla. The game was essentially decided by two red cards against Sevilla (10’ and 46’). Real could only threaten through Kylian Mbappe, who hit the post in the 72nd minute before scoring the winner 3 minutes later. Bellingham added another near the end.
The upcoming game against Real Sociedad will be Carlo Ancelotti’s final game as Real Madrid manager. He is expected to be honoured by the club, following a rather disappointing year plagued by injuries and failure to attain any of the team’s objectives.
The board has already started to plan for the future, securing star manager Xabi Alonso, Liverpool legend Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Huijsen. The last two will be much-needed additions to a substandard defensive line.
Madrid has won three straight at home, the last two ending with BTTS & Over 2.5 Goals. The squad will be rotated, but Mbappe is expected to start and try and go for goals that will secure him the Golden Boot - he is in a tight race with Sporting’s Gyokeres.
Real Sociedad
The previous round finally brought a win for Real Sociedad. After six games without one, the Basque club managed to secure a 3-2 victory over Girona. They took a 2-1 lead at the half, thanks to goals by Marin and Oyarzabal (5’, 20’).
The game was free-flowing, with counter-attacking football for both sides. La Real conceded an equaliser to a former Sociedad man, Portu, in the 77th minute. Arkaitz Mariezkurrena, a 20-year-old Basque, gave his team the win in the first minute of stoppage time, and gave Imanol Alguacil a win in his last home game as Sociedad manager.
This has been a bittersweet end to a season that saw Sociedad fail to qualify for European football and fail to make it to the Copa del Rey final, despite coming quite close. They have lost two in a row away from home recently, while they are the team with the fewest league games ending with BTTS. Almost half of their games have seen over 2.5 goals.
