The Reale Arena was a cauldron of noise as Real Madrid came to town, and Real Sociedad looked to use the atmosphere to their advantage in the early stages.
The hosts very nearly gave their fans something to cheer inside the opening five minutes when Sergio Gomez’s free-kick forced a smart save out of Thibaut Courtois.
It took Madrid 15 minutes to truly settle into the game, but when they did their quality earned them a clear sight of goal, but Kylian Mbappe’s low left-footed effort was rebuffed by the legs of Alex Remiro.
There was a growing sense that an opening goal was getting closer, and only a lick of paint denied Luka Sucic from grabbing it when his wicked drive from 20 yards cannoned back off the inside of the post.
The woodwork was becoming Madrid’s best friend, as it again came to their rescue before the break. This time it was the crossbar sparing their blushes when Sheraldo Becker crashed an effort off the upright after Sucic’s deft lay-off.
Incredibly, within 30 seconds of the restart, the Basque side rattled the woodwork for a third time when Sucic ghosted into the area and fired an effort against the post.
Sociedad were left to rue those missed opportunities shortly before the hour mark when Arda Guler’s rasper from the edge of the area was blocked in the area by the arm of Gomez.
Vinicius Junior assumed responsibility from the spot, and despite getting a hand to the Brazilian’s penalty, Remiro could only help it into the corner.
He was soon faced with another spot-kick when Jon Aramburu felled Vinicius in the area, and although it was Mbappe who stepped forward from 12 yards this time, the end outcome was the same, this time sending Remiro the wrong way to end the game as a contest.
Sociedad were visibly crushed at that point, and although they huffed and puffed in an attempt to get back into the game, it was already beyond them.
The night belonged to Madrid though, whose unbeaten away league run now stands at an impressive 18 matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
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