Real Sociedad To Play Real Madrid

It was announced yesterday that star studded Real Madrid will visit Anoeta on 15th August to honour the centenary of Real Sociedad. It has also been revealed the visitors will not be charging a penny to play in a fantastic gesture to the cash strapped club and any much needed money raised will be kept by Real Sociedad. Real Madrid have agreed to bring a full strength squad to San Sebastian so hopefully the likes of Kaka and Christiano Ronaldo will feature. It could also potentially see the return of former favourite Xabi Alonso as he is heavily tipped to make a move to Real Madrid sooner or later. No doubt he would receive a warm reception after many happy years with the club during which he was idolised by the fans.

In other news its been reported Xabi Castillo's next club could be Liga BBVA side Deportivo La Coruna after their coach Lotina expressed a desire to sign him. The players contract expired on June 30th so is free to join who he likes but until recently it was Glasgow Celtic who were favourites to sign the player. Lateley English club West Bromwich Albion had thrown their name into the ring.

Díaz de Cerio Joins Athletic Bilbao

Iñigo Díaz de Cerio was unveiled as a Athletic Bilbao player today after his Real Sociedad contract officially ended yesterday and has signed on for 4 years with a 50 million euro buy out clause. The player thanked Athletic Club for trusting him after having been sidelined for most of the 2008-9 season due to an injury. It will be a bitter pill for Real fans to swallow with the deep rivalry between the two clubs but Iñigo was keen to show his appreciation to his former club at his press conference. He says he has only "words of gratitude" for Real and tried his best for the club from day one. He said he had joined a very important club in the Spanish League and it was important to be at a club with economic stability - something Real lacks. "I am 25 years old, I am in a key moment of my career and this presented me the opportunity to return to First Division, with the added incentive of the European competition. The economic theme weighs a lot, the sports one also, and the personnel, because I am going to be able to continue in the Basque Country with the family". He went on to say he wasn't sure yet if he would be ready to return to action at the start of the season but is ready to be patient and not rush things as he looks to avoid any setbacks with his injury.

In other news midfielder Gorka Elustundo has been talking about his excitement for next season as he looks to put an injury ravaged season behind him. Martin Lasarte has made it clear Elustundo will be a massive player for Real Sociedad next season. "I go very happy on my holidays, because I have felt again like a footballer. After many months of suffering, I have been able to help the team and I have not noted any inconveniences. Already I am excited about the pre-season. The renewal of my contract until June 30, 2013 has been the perfect cherry and a reason more to return in July with a lot desires".

Elche 1-2 Real Sociedad

A last minute winner from comeback kid Gorka Elustundo ended Real Sociedad's season on a high and gave Coach Lillo a good end to his tenure after the bitter disappointment of failing to get promotion. Incredibly the win means that txuri urdin finished with more points away from home than at the Anoeta - something that will need to change next season for sure. Both sides struggled to find any fluency to their game in the first half as the stifling heat took its toll. Elche took the lead on 41 minutes through Santos and it was a weary looking Real side that trudged off the pitch.

The second half was only 2 minutes old when a lively Agirretxe scored at the second attempt to cap an impressive season from him. In the final half an hour the game opened up and both teams had chances to score the winner but it was if the script had been written for Elustundo to score the winner after enduring a nightmare season through injury. On 89 minutes he scored and looked delighted with it. All the players rushed to congradulate him and rightly so as he not only completed a full 90 minutes he looked very assured throughout the 90 minutes and will be a huge player for Real next season if he can stay fit.

Elche: Willy Caballero, Oscar Rubio, Zubiaurre, Olmo, Amaya, Acciari, Usero Santos (Fernando Niño, 90 mins), Dani Benítez, Miguel (Saul, 79 mins), Rubén Pérez (Wakasa, 60 mins)

Real Sociedad: Ramirez, Gerardo, Carlos Martínez, Mikel González (Ansotegi, 80 mins), Castillo, Ros, Elustondo, Moha (Alain Eizmendi, 68 mins), Xabi Prieto, Marcos and Agirretxe (Viguera, 85 mins).

So another season is finished and ultimately its been a very poor one to say the least. Too many times (especially at home) the team looked, at best, average. Marcos and Prieto looked dangerous down the flanks but too often the final pass let them down. The injury to de Cerio certainly never helped matters and his replacement Necati wasn't the goal machine us fans expected him to be but he can't be faulted on his commitment to the cause, its just a shame he couldn't have scored more than one solitary goal and he would have been a fans favourite for sure. Boukary Dramé was a strange signing from Lillo for me cos i'm sure he must have seen him play before taking him on loan. I believe (and i could be wrong) he only started 1 game for the club all season which beggars belief in my eyes. I can only assume he was rubbish in training since i never actually seen him play!! I will be following the comings and goings with great interest during the summer as these will be key to our chances next season. With Abreu gone im particularly looking forward to seeing who Martín Lasarte brings in to get the goals next season. If readers of this site hear or see any tranfer rumours over the next couple of months please feel free to post them as i will no doubt miss some of them!!

I would like to end this post by revealing who i think has been player of the seson - Sebastián Abreu! With 11 goals in 18 games he gets my vote with his all action displays and key goals. His magnificent hat-trick against league leaders Xerez was outstanding and the highlight of the season for me. If anyone doesn't agree with this choice then again, please post a comment. Martín Lasarte was officially presented to the media and fans today and i personally have high hopes for him next season. I hope he can get us out this league at the 3rd time of asking and get us back with the big boys where we belong!

Colombian Jonathan Estrada To Sign

Its yet to be officially confirmed but Millonarios left sided midfielder Jonathan Estrada will be heading to San Sebastian at the weekend to sign a season loan deal to join the club next season with an option to make the deal permanent after that. With Martín Lasarte not due to take the reigns until July 1st its clear he is already working in the background as he was coach of Estrada at Millonarios in 2007. At 26 years old he is a powerful midfielder who, in his two years with Millonarios, managed 7 goals in 79 games. He has been capped for Columbia at Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 level. The last Columbian to play for Real Sociedad was John Viáfara (2005-2006) during a loan spell from Portsmouth. The video below gives a glimpse of what to expect!

Real Sociedad 1-1 Levante

Real Sociedad were unable to give the home fans the victory they wanted as they bid farewell to coach Lillo and the players who were playing in their final tie at Anoeta before they move to pastures new. It turned out to be a very entertaining game with plenty of chances for both sides (see highlights below). Levante took the lead after Xisco Nadal took advantage of slack play before running into the box and squaring for Rubén to tap into an empty net. The Real Sociedad equaliser came from Abreu with a cool finish after being set up from Estrada. Zubikarai was given a straight red card after running from his box to clear but caught Rubén as well as the ball so their was never any doubt the referee was going to send him off. Toño Ramírez replaced him in goal and would go on to pull off some stunning saves and do his reputation no harm at all.

In the second half there were plenty chances for both teams and Abreu was guilty of missing two great chances to score and win the game. A particular highlight of the second half was the appearance of Elustundo who came on for the last 25 minutes. He received a rapturous applause form the home support after eight months out and its great to see him back! Abreu was also was brought off on 65 minutes and said his farewell after it was revealed he will be joining Greek side Aris Salonika next season. Abreu had became a fans favourite in his short time at the club but it was no secret he would be moving on escpecially since it was announced Lillo would be leaving. Two players who have yet to say they are leaving is Claudio Bravo and Xabi Prieto. Interest is reportedly high in both players with Real Madrid apparently leading the hunt for Bravo. The most likely to leave is Bravo but Prieto has come out to say it will take something very strange to make him leave and said he is focused on Real Sociedad. Whether this is the case during the summer remains to be seen but his love for the club is clear to see.

Real Sociedad: Zubikarai, Gerardo, Carlos Martínez, Labaka, Sarasola (Elustondo, 65 mins), Rivas, Ros (Ramirez, 39 mins), Estrada, Moha, Agirretxe and Abreu (Necati 65 mins).

Levante UD: Manu, Molinero, Ballesteros, Rhodes, Angel, Miguel Perez, Samuel, Larrea (Iborra, 60 mins), Pina (Rubén Sánchez, 63 mins), Reuben, Xisco Nadal.

Rayo Vallecano 4-1 Real Socoedad

Regular followers of Real Sociedad news will be familiar with the ritual of me taking a few days to update a match after Real Sociedad have suffered a defeat but the fact its now Thursday reflects the pain i felt after the thrashing Rayo dealt out. Things didn't look good after only 3 minutes when Amaya gave Rayo the lead. Things got worse on 13 minutes when Diamé doubled the lead. Real were looking like a very poor team and Lillo's 4-5-1 formation was looking like a very poor choice with Agirretxe looking lively but never looking like troubling the Rayo defence. Agirretxe did pull one back on 31 minutes as the midfield started to get more of the ball.

Any hope of a second half comeback was dashed on 48 minutes as Piti put the game out of reach and the misery was compounded on 76 minutes when Llorens killed the game. Viguera was given a run out for 20 mins as a substitute for Necati after a good season for Sans (Real Sociedad B) so at least that was promising. With promotion hopes now over we must now look forward to next season and hope for much better things. Whats for sure is with the likes of Real Betis and Recreativo joining us in Liga adelante it will be another battle. Rivas has come out in the last couple of days and said he wants the team to win the last two matches to give Lillo a good send off but with nothing to play for it remains to be seen if the Real Sociedad faithful will turn up in their droves to see the Levante game on Sunday. Lillo has revealed he was ofered a contract extension in February which came as a slight surprise to me considering we weren't exactly ripping up the league at that time!

Rayo Vallecano: Cobeño, Tena, Amaya, Llorens, Yuma (Albiol, 73 mins), Diamé, Michel, Jofre (Collantes, 57 mins), Piti, Pachón (Sáez, 77 mins), Rubén Reyes.

Real Sociedad: Zubikarai, Gerardo, Carlos Martínez, Labaka, Castillo, Rivas, Ros, Prieto, Marcos (Moha, 56 mins), Necati (Viguera, 70 mins)y Agirretxe (Estrada, 77 mins).

Lillo To Leave - Prieto Next?

At a press conference this afternoon it was confirmed by President Aperribay that Coach Lillo will leave the helm at the end of June and the man to replace him is Uruguyan Martin Lasarte. Aperribay thanked Lillo for the "great work" he had done for the team but ultimately his failure to get into the top 3 has cost him. Lasarte is a coach associated with putting his faith in youth and will take over the reigns on 1st July.

Big news in Spain at the moment (apart from the possible Kaka move to Real Madrid) is the talk that bitter rivals Athletic Bilbao may be set to put in a bid to sign Xabi Prieto. Its been reported Aperribay may struggle to keep the player who will of course be tempted by the prospect of swapping the Liga adelante for the Liga BBVA and of course european football. Only time will tell if they do come in with a bid but it will be bad news for Real Sociedad fans with striker Iñigo Diaz de Cerio already leaving to join them after his contract expires in the summer.