Realzales in Birmingham keep faith in Europa League push | OneFootball

According to Diario Vasco, Real Sociedad began their pre-season away from Gipuzkoa on Saturday with a game against Wolverhampton in Walsall, drawing a small group of travelling realzales to Birmingham.

Olalde felt the city was not worth the trip, calling it very ugly and short on attractions, with locals heading to the shopping centre or the pub. Even so, he stayed upbeat about the football, saying this could be the start of a path towards the Europa League final.

Matarazzo’s side meet Wolves and Aston Villa on the outskirts of Birmingham while work continues on departures, with no new signings yet. After outings against Racing and Pau, Olalde said the team lack rhythm, so judgement should wait and reinforcements are needed.

The new campaign carries optimism after last season’s Copa win and another European berth, though Olalde found the run-in hard to digest. He described the finish as disastrous and the final matches as very poor.

Without tickets, Olalde and Vilariño set up a five-day break three weeks ago to align with the fixtures. They flew from Bilbao via Madrid, hope for an opening win, plan to sightsee in Manchester on Sunday, watch Aston Villa on Tuesday, then return to Donostia via Alicante.

Two other friends from Gipuzkoa walked from Birmingham to Walsall, about three kilometres that took up to three hours. They mentioned identical-looking streets and felt lucky to live where they do, having travelled from Santander and leaving on Monday, so they will miss the Aston Villa game.

Source: Diario Vasco