Real Sociedad transformation judged at Rayo after October low point | OneFootball

Real Sociedad visit Rayo Vallecano six months after their lowest ebb against the same opponents at Anoeta, a night that jarred with today’s buoyant mood following the Copa del Rey triumph.

According to Diario Vasco, on 5 October, matchday eight, La Real were penultimate with five points from eight and had lost four of their previous five. Rayo won that game through a Pacha Espino counter, with Sergio Francisco’s team offering little.

The arrival of Pellegrino Matarazzo has changed the picture. The American head coach said he has not watched that first meeting to prepare for Sunday, focusing instead on recent matches.

Even so, much of that XI could return in Vallecas. Remiro, Aramburu, Caleta-Car, Sergio Gómez, Soler, Barrene and Oyarzabal all featured that night, and images of the captain striking the turf captured the frustration.

Now Iñigo Pérez has described La Real as the league’s best footballing side at present. Their makeover was capped by April’s Copa del Rey win in Seville on 18 April, a peak few would have imagined back then.

That first meeting lingers only as a bad memory, one the squad and Matarazzo’s steady poliki-poliki have turned into a campaign to savour.

Source: Diario Vasco