Real Madrid beats Real Sociedad and moves ahead of Barca

And five! Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad (2-1) at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday to earn its fifth win in La Liga in five days and move ahead of Barça in the standings.

The Madrilenians were outmaneuvered and harassed from the start, with Barrenetxía having to make two attempts to deceive Kepa at point blank range after a precise cross from Japanese Tofekusa Kubo (5th).

Passed by Real Madrid before joining the Basque team in 2022, the left-back caused a lot of damage to the Merengue defence, creating threat with every ball.

In his signature action, Kubo almost put his former club ahead in the 10th minute. His powerful shot from the left fell into Kepa’s right net, but early in the action his goal was ruled out for offside.

This second goal aroused the merengue, which set off again to attack the Basque goal. But he lacked realism, like Joselu, who was the author of an incredible miss over the bar when his goal was wide open. Carvajal (18th), then Rodrigo (28th) came in front of Basque goalkeeper Ramiro.

The unstoppable Kubo on his right wing called Kepa, who had a firm hand on this new curling shot of the Japanese (29th) and then on Merino’s header, which he deflected for a corner.

The Madrilenians responded after the break and equalized thanks to a powerful strike from 20 meters (46th) by Valverde, before Joselu gave Real the double with a header (61st) from a precise cross from passer Fran García. Kepa remained alert until the end to maintain Merengue’s lead.

With this fifth success in five matches, Real Madrid regains its position as leader of the championship with 15 points, ahead of FC Barcelona (13 points), which won 5–0 against Betis. After the defeat, they took the lead for a while.

Elsewhere on the pitch, Sergio Ramos made a successful return to Sevilla 18 years after his last match in the Andalusian jersey.

Before welcoming Lens on Wednesday in the Champions League, the Sevillians achieved their first win of the season against Las Palmas (1-0) thanks to a goal from Belgian striker Lucbakio.

Earlier in the afternoon, Norwegian recruit Alexander Sorloth from Villarreal gave the Yellow Submarine three points against Almeria in the 94th minute (2-1).

English midfielder Mason Greenwood, who was accused of attempted rape and sexual assault in Manchester before the charges were dropped, played his first minutes with Getafe during the win against Osasuna (3-2).

The seven Spanish teams that have qualified for the Champions League and Europa League met on Tuesday with their neighbors and the demanding pace of European competitions.