{"id":596797,"date":"2023-01-12T05:42:26","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T11:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/12\/sociedad-hosts-bilbao-aiming-to-close-gap-on-top-2\/"},"modified":"2023-01-12T05:42:26","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T11:42:26","slug":"sociedad-hosts-bilbao-aiming-to-close-gap-on-top-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/12\/sociedad-hosts-bilbao-aiming-to-close-gap-on-top-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Sociedad hosts Bilbao aiming to close gap on top 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) \u2014 With Barcelona and Real Madrid playing the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, their nearest challenger will try to close the gap on the league front-runners.<\/p>\n

Real Sociedad is in third place, six points behind second-place Madrid, ahead of its match against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The derby between the biggest teams in Spain\u2019s northern Basque Country region is always among the country\u2019s fiercest rivalries, only surpassed by the enmity shared by Sevilla and Real Betis.<\/p>\n

Former Sociedad player-turned-coach Imanol Alguacil has established his team as a yearly competitor for European competition. This is proving one of Sociedad\u2019s best campaigns, despite losing star signing Umar Sadiq to a serious knee injury shortly after he had joined to replace Alexander Isak following his transfer to Newcastle.<\/p>\n

Attacking midfielder Brais M\u00e9ndez has thrived since moving to San Sebasti\u00e1n from Celta Vigo, and Norway striker Alexander Sorloth is having a breakout season. They both lead their team with 10 goals across all competitions, including the Europa League and the Copa del Rey. Midfielder Mikel Merino leads the Spanish league with seven assists, while David Silva and Takefusa Kobe provide spark to the attack. Holding midfielder Mart\u00edn Zubimendi is considered a possible candidate to replace Sergio Busquets on Spain\u2019s national team following his retirement from international soccer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI myself am surprised,\u201d M\u00e9ndez said about his strong season. \u201cBut at the end I think it is because I play for a team that works so well together, with an attacking attitude that pressures high up the field and recovers lots of balls near the rival\u2019s area. That makes it easier to produce these numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sociedad also got a boost by the recent return of striker Mikel Oyarzabal, one of its leading players, after a long injury layoff.<\/p>\n

It may be too early for Sociedad, which won the league in 1981 and 1982, to be considered a dark-horse candidate in what is a two-team title race. But a win over Bilbao would make it seven straight victories across all competitions and bring Sociedad within striking distance of Madrid.<\/p>\n

Facing them is a Bilbao side that is playing well after the return of Ernesto Valverde for a third stint with the club.<\/p>\n

With an attack featuring brothers I\u00f1aki and Nico Williams, Bilbao is in seventh place and only two points from fourth and the final Champions League spot.<\/p>\n

WITHOUT F\u00c9LIX<\/p>\n

Atletico Madrid will play its first game without Portugal forward Jo\u00e3o F\u00e9lix on Sunday when it visits Almeria.<\/p>\n

F\u00e9lix completed a loan move to Chelsea on Wednesday until the end of the season. F\u00e9lix had been in and out of Diego Simeone\u2019s starting lineup, but his loss is a blow since it leaves Antoine Griezmann as Atletico\u2019s only dynamic playmaker.<\/p>\n

Atletico, which won the league two seasons ago, is now focused on keeping its Champions League spot. It enters the match in fifth place, one point behind Real Betis in fourth.<\/p>\n

POSTPONED MATCHES<\/p>\n

Betis and Valencia are also away at the Spanish Super Sup.<\/p>\n

Barcelona\u2019s game at Betis will be played on Feb. 2, while Madrid will host Valencia the following day.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

More AP soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer and https:\/\/twitter.com\/AP_Sports<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n By JOSEPH WILSON – Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) \u2014 With Barcelona and Real Madrid playing the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, their nearest challenger will try to close the gap on the league front-runners. Real Sociedad is in third place, six points behind second-place Madrid, ahead of its match against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. The derby between the biggest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":596798,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[534,2380,35311],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-596797","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-financial","8":"category-hosts","9":"category-sociedad"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}