Real Madrid 0-2 Real Sociedad: Should a loss be undervalued?

Real Madrid drew 2-2 with Villarreal last Thursday on 3 January, in their first LaLiga fixture of 2019. Shortly after, Santiago Solari went on record to state that "Real Madrid should not undervalue draws".

Real Madrid fans would wonder what Solari has to say after overseeing a 0-2 defeat to Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabeu last night.

This loss condemns Real Madrid to a shocking 5th position in the LaLiga standings, and 10 points behind arch-rivals, Barcelona, who won their respective fixture 1-2 at Getafe, courtesy of some magic from Lionel Messi, and a killer volley from Luis Suarez.

Los Blancos didn't start as well as they would have wanted to, as Casemiro conceded a penalty in the 3rd minute following a clumsy challenge on Mikel Merino. It would seem an injustice to call that a "challenge", because Casemiro literally dragged Merino down.

Thereafter, Thibaut Courtois couldn't do much to stop Willian Jose from scoring from the penalty spot.

Lucas Vázquez then earned himself a second yellow card in the 61st-minute, following a challenge on Mikel Merino.

Any person in their right senses who saw the match would know that Lucas was trying to prevent a Real Sociedad counter-attack. There is nothing wrong with taking a yellow for the team, but not when you already are on a yellow. Interestingly, Lucas Vázquez managed to hit the post earlier, in the 44th minute.

Real Madrid will miss Lucas Vázquez for their next LaLiga fixture against Real Betis on 13 January, 2019.

Luka Modric didn't have one of his best days, as he could not create much in the midfield, and Thomas Reguilon perhaps forgot that he had to mark Ruben Pardo in the 83rd minute when Willian Jose sent in a sublime cross to Pardo, and he only had Courtois to beat.

Some would say that given the manner in which Madrid were playing, they would have been lucky to get a point. Nevertheless, the second goal simply put matters out of their reach.

Some questions will also be raised on the validity of the VAR system, as Vinicius Junior pretty much looked like he was man-handled by Gerónimo Rulli in the 63rd minute. The referee didn't share the same opinion, and Real Madrid were not awarded a penalty.

Los Blancos would seek revenge on Leganes in the first leg of the Copa Del Rey RO16 on Wednesday this week at the Santiago Bernabeu. After all, Leganes eliminated them in the quarter-finals of the Copa Del Rey last season.

Lets see how Los Blancos react to last night's loss in the upcoming matches, the latest one being a clash with Leganes.

Till then, see ya!