Real Sociedad has moved to Leuven to prepare for its first match in the UEFA Europa League group stage, where it faces Union Saint-Gilloise. The Txuri-Urdin team completed its last work session last Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Den Dreef stadium, marking its first exposure to the grass that will be decisive in the next day's match.
The training in Leuven was mostly a process of image and adaptation, under the direction of Pellegrino Matarazzo. The coach focused on stretching and fine-tuning the 24 players who will travel to Belgium, with the aim of familiarizing themselves with the surface and weather conditions of the country. The session was described as “soft” and aimed at physical preparation and tactical integration before the competition.
Before arriving in Leuven, Real Sociedad carried out a more intense practice at the Zubieta facilities, where they worked on tactics and strategy for the European match. This pre-training was considered the real preparation work, while the exercise in Den Dreef served to give the players the opportunity to see the pitch and adjust their pace of play to the characteristics of the stadium.
Among the players returning to the team are Orri Óskarsson and Álex Marchal. The Icelandic midfielder is available again after serving a suspension in the league match against Deportivo de La Coruña, and the young youth player joins the group after recovering from being absent in the duel against Celta de Vigo the previous weekend. On the other hand, Jon Mikel Aramburu is still in the process of recovering from a major injury in defense, while goalkeeper Beitia remains in Donostia, heading the list of absences.
With the 24 players available and training at full capacity at Den Dreef, Matarazzo is fine-tuning the final details of his tactical scheme before the game against Union Saint-Gilloise. The immediate objective is to secure a victory in the first match of the group stage, which would put Real Sociedad in a favorable position to advance in the European competition. The club hopes that the adaptation to the terrain and the cohesion of the group will translate into a solid performance on match day.