David Moyes issues warning to Real Madrid ahead of weekend La Liga clash

David Moyes has said his team will look to defeat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu

Real Sociedad manager David Moyes has said that he is looking forward to his team’s visit to the Santiago Bernabeu this Saturday, as they look to end their seven-month winless streak away from home.

Moyes believes that the fact that his team were able to defeat Barcelona should be proof of their ability of causing an upset when they face Real. He said, “Beating Barcelona, I hope that’s a message. I hope it says, this is what he can do, this is where David Moyes works and he’s done it with a side which wouldn’t be expected to do it”.

“Maybe that’s the reason I got the United job because I won a lot of games at Everton that we weren’t expected to. It wasn’t done with a lot of cash but over a long period while trying to grow the club.”

The Scotsman also spoke about what his strategy was for the Barcelona game, saying, “When I had watched them, I knew you couldn’t play them without having numerous midfield players. Because they want to play through the middle you have to make sure you are compact. At times, their combination play was so good and they do have the ability to go wide and round you but tactically we worked on staying tight and compact to force Barcelona to make more mistakes.”

“I would have liked to have said, “Right, we’ll take you on”, but we’re not at that level yet. I found that quite often at Everton. We weren’t always at the level to take on some teams so we had to find another way of getting the result.”

Real Sociedad scored after through two minutes through a Jordi Alba own goal, but Moyes wasn’t very enthusiastic. He said, “I didn’t really celebrate because there were 88 minutes to go. And they had Messi and Neymar coming off the bench. They were running past the dug-out and I’m thinking, I hope they sit down, those two.”

“But we got three points and I hope it gave the supporters something to see — that they have a manager who can compete at that level.”

Moyes looking forward to Bernabeu visit

Ahead of their match against Real, Moyes would want Sociedad to play with the same sort of intensity and spirit. He spoke about his visit to the Bernabeu, saying, “I’ve never been to the Bernabeu because I only ever wanted to manage a team there. It was always my mindset, that I wanted to take a team there and not just go to watch a game.”

“Go back to the great games between Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho and people would say to me, “Come on, let’s go out for the game”, but I’d find an excuse not to go. I hoped I would be taking Everton or Manchester United there in a Champions League quarter-final but it wasn’t to be, but I am going to do it another way this weekend. I’ve stuck to my deal.”

The match will also see Moyes come up against Carlo Ancelotti, the man who helped the former Manchester United manager settle down when he came to Spain. Moyes has planned to gift his friend a bottle of wine, the 1959 Rioja (the Real Madrid manager was born in 1959), as a token of appreciation for all the Italian’s help.