Real Madrid's expensive win at Anoeta

SAN SEBASTIAN, SATURDAY — Real Madrid continued their perfect start to the season by defeating Real Sociedad, 2-1, at Anoeta Stadium, San Sebastian, on Saturday (13/9/2025). With this result, Real successfully achieved four consecutive victories in La Liga. However, this victory came at a high cost due to several unfavorable decisions against "Los Blancos."

The loss of Dean Huijsen, who received a red card in the first half, was the biggest setback for Real in that match. The defender, who was recently acquired by Real from Bournemouth, brought down Mikel Oyarzabal, who was sprinting to exploit a counterattack. This marked the second red card for Huijsen since joining Real this summer. Previously, the 20-year-old defender had already been shown a red card during the match against Borussia Dortmund in the Club World Cup.

As a result of receiving a direct red card, Huijsen is expected to be absent for two to four upcoming matches. Huijsen's punishment will be lighter if Real successfully wins the appeal.

Huijsen's red card sparked protests from Real players, including coach Xabi Alonso, who received a yellow card after vehemently protesting to referee Jesus Gil Manzano. The referee's decision to penalize Huijsen with a direct red card was deemed questionable because the foul occurred while another Real defender, Eder Militao, was still behind.

After being penalized, Huijsen then raised his index and middle fingers to form the number two. With that gesture, he seemed to indicate that there were two Real defenders remaining in the back line, suggesting that the foul should not have resulted in a direct red card.

"In my opinion, that (violation) should have been a yellow card. (Eder) Militao almost hit the target, the ball was uncontrolled, they were 40 meters apart. Watching the replay, I still haven't changed my mind. He (the referee) gave me his explanation and I am not sure," said Alonso at the press conference after the match.

Alonso's strong protest is very understandable as it is highly detrimental to his team. The absence of Huijsen disrupts the stability of the defense line. Moreover, Real has already lost another defender, Antonio Ruediger, who is injured. Given this situation, Alonso now only has Militao, David Alaba, and Raul Asencio as center-backs. Two defenders started the match from the beginning with only one center-back on the bench. However, Real is fortunate to have Aurelien Tchouameni, who can be assigned as an emergency center-back.

The match quickly became one-sided after Huijsen was sent off. Real Sociedad, trailing by two goals, increased their attacking intensity in the second half. The team coached by Sergio Francisco turned dominant with 76 percent possession compared to 24 percent for Real.

Real was continuously pressured in the second half. Thanks to an increase in the intensity of their attacks, Sociedad made four accurate shots and created five golden opportunities.

The red card for Huijsen was not the only loss that Real experienced. Just two minutes into the match, Arda managed to score a goal. However, that goal was ultimately disallowed due to offside.

Another loss was the penalty awarded to Sociedad, which was ultimately converted into a goal by Oyarzabal in the 56th minute. The referee awarded the penalty after the ball was deemed to have touched Dani Carvajal's arm during a scramble in Real's defensive area.

Without difficulty, Oyarzabal deceived goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, thereby reducing the deficit for Sociedad, who had initially fallen behind due to a goal from Kylian Mbappe in the 12th minute and Arda Guler one minute before the end of the first half.

"The red card has a significant impact, but you also have to know how to play with ten players. There was a period in the second half when we were too defensive, but we adapted to the playing scheme. The substitutions went well," said Alonso.

Despite the various losses that Real has experienced, Alonso can smile a little after successfully achieving four victories at the start of the season. This result at least increases the hope of claiming the championship title from Barcelona at the end of the league.

In addition, Alonso is quite satisfied with the performance of his front line, which has begun to be creative in breaking down the opponent's defense. Although they only won narrowly against Sociedad, Real's attacking performance in this match was quite attractive.

Arda's goal, which doubled Real's advantage, stemmed from a brilliant combination with Mbappe. The two players continuously ran to find space as desired by Alonso. Securing full points at the Anoeta Stadium has never been easy for Real; however, the collective play demonstrated by Mbappe and Arda made what seemed impossible at Anoeta possible.

The additional three points from the Sociedad home ground solidify Real's position at the top of the temporary standings with a total of 12 points. Real is closely followed by Athletic Bilbao, which has accumulated 10 points in second place.

"This is a good start for the team and me, but this season lasts 10 months and 11 months with the World Cup. So now I have to play well for a long time," said Mbappe.