Beyond the results
Beyond the result, and leaving aside the team that Real Madrid came out with, for me the way Real Sociedad is approaching the game has a lot of merit. Yes, I know that a lot was at stake in the bet and that otherwise it would have been something criminal. I agree. But it is one thing to say it, and another to carry it out. Because it would not be the first time that a team has been seized by the pressure of what is at stake. Altitude sickness they call it, right? And that could weigh on Real that sees the dream of repeating in the Champions League getting closer and closer. But none of that appeared. An aggressive, intense Real was seen, with grit and character, showing who really had a lot at stake in the game.
His name is Kubo
The best example of what I am saying is represented by Takefusa Kubo. The Japanese are hungry, and his hunger for the Champions League is that of Real Sociedad. He asks for the ball, tries it, repeats his efforts, with and without the ball, and presses like a hungry lion on every ball out of Real Madrid. Thus came the first goal of the Japanese. For being fully involved in the game, for pressing until exhaustion and believing until the end, for not giving up any ball. That’s Kubo. That is the Real. The best show at the best time. Against a whole Real Madrid, no matter how much it seemed like half Madrid.