Real Sociedad returned to Anoeta on Saturday needing points fast, and RCD Espanyol were the visitors for a match that carried more weight than a routine home fixture. The home side came in on a 10-match Liga run without a win, a stretch that had already pushed Matarazzo into unwanted company in the club’s record book.
That run is built from eight matches from last season and the first two of this one, which is why the search for Real Sociedad vs Espanyol was not just about the day’s result but about whether the slide could be stopped before it reached a third game in the current campaign. It also put the focus back on Anoeta, where the club was finally back after stadium works forced two away starts against Betis and Real Madrid.
The weight of the situation showed in the details around the squad. Mamadou Sarr was called up only hours after his loan without a buy option was completed, and he had trained just once at Zubieta. Matarazzo wanted him around the group anyway, saying he needed to feel the stadium’s energy and learn the procedures despite missing pre-season, and that the team had to be fully focused from the first minute.
It was a thin line for the coach to walk. Pablo Marín and Álvaro Odriozola were still sidelined, Jon Karrikaburu, Pacheco and Mikel Goti were left out for technical reasons, and Karrikaburu was also finishing an exit to sign for Burgos. The return of Jon Gorrotxategi after pubis trouble since pre-season, the renewed inclusion of Gonçalo Guedes and the continued availability of Ander Barrenetxea after his calf problem at La Cartuja and later minutes at the Santiago Bernabéu gave Real Sociedad some options, but not enough to hide the strain of the moment.
There is also the harder historical backdrop. Matarazzo became only the second coach in the club’s history to go 10 top-flight games without victory, matching a mark reached only by José Mari Bakero in 2006. That makes Saturday less like an isolated test than a checkpoint on a run that already belongs in the club’s record books, and the only certainty is that the pressure does not ease until Real Sociedad start turning home matches into points again.
Espanyol arrived with their own early-season markers. Saturday’s trip to San Sebastián was their first away match of the campaign, and they had already beaten Levante 3-0 at Cornellà-El Prat before losing 1-2 to Real Madrid after conceding a last-minute goal. That left Real Sociedad facing a side with momentum and scars of its own, while the home team tried to make Anoeta feel like an advantage again.
