Real Sociedad vs Mallorca

The stakes are at an all-time high for Real Sociedad and Mallorca as they go head-to-head in the return leg of their evenly-poised Copa del Rey semi-final tie.

Real Sociedad’s best chance of avoiding another trophyless campaign lies in the Copa del Rey after they’ve fallen well below the La Liga title pace and lost 2-0 to PSG in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. No strangers to winning this competition, La Real have done that three times before, most recently in 2019/20, and are now in a decent position to reach the grand final following a scoreless draw in the first leg. Imanol Alguacil’s side subsequently defeated Mallorca 2-1 in La Liga action, extending their impressive unbeaten H2H streak to 11 matches (W9, D2). That’s a small consolation given their dreadful form at Reale Arena, where they’ve failed to win any of their last six outings (D4, L2), including a 3-1 defeat to Villarreal at the weekend.

With Sociedad also failing to get on the scoresheet in four of those six matches, Mallorca will fancy their chances in San Sebastian, where they’ve lost 12 consecutive H2Hs since a 1-0 win in 2003. Worryingly for head coach Javier Aguirre, his men have drawn a blank in their last 11 away H2Hs, adding to an ever-growing skepticism among the traveling fans amid a disappointing six-game stretch (W1, D2, L3). Goals proved hard to come by for Los Piratas during that sequence, as they netted under 1.5 goals in five of those six matches. But as they have a chance to lift this trophy for the second time in the club’s history, they’ll take the field heavily motivated to build on a decent run of only four defeats from their last 18 competitive outings (W7, D7).