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Real Sociedad

2020–21 season
President	Jokin Aperribay
Head coach	Imanol Alguacil
Stadium	Anoeta Stadium
La Liga	5th
Copa del Rey	Round of 16
Supercopa de España	Semi-finals
UEFA Europa League	Round of 32
Top goalscorer	League: Alexander Isak (17) All: Alexander Isak (17)
Biggest win	Real Sociedad 4–0 Alavés
Biggest defeat	Real Sociedad 1–6 Barcelona
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2019–202021–22 →

The 2020–21 season was the 111th season in the existence of Real Sociedad and the club's 11th consecutive season in the top flight of Spanish football. In addition to the domestic league, Real Sociedad participated in this season's editions of the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de España, and also participated in the UEFA Europa League. The season covered the period from 20 July 2020 to 30 June 2021, with the late start to the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.

This season was the first since 2007–08 without fellow centre-back David Zurutuza who announced his retirement from football after the previous campaign had concluded.

Players

First-team squad

As of 24 January 2021

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ESP Álex Remiro 2 DF  ESP Joseba Zaldúa 4 MF  ESP Asier Illarramendi (Captain) 5 MF  ESP Igor Zubeldia 6 DF  ESP Aritz Elustondo (3rd captain) 7 MF  ESP Portu 8 MF  ESP Mikel Merino 9 FW  ESP Carlos Fernández 10 FW  ESP Mikel Oyarzabal (vice-captain) 11 MF  BEL Adnan Januzaj 12 DF  ESP Aihen Muñoz 13 GK  ESP Miguel Ángel Moyá 14 MF  ESP Jon Guridi

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF  FRA Modibo Sagnan 16 MF  ESP Ander Guevara 17 MF  ESP Martín Merquelanz 18 DF  ESP Andoni Gorosabel 19 FW  SWE Alexander Isak 20 DF  ESP Nacho Monreal 21 MF  ESP David Silva 22 FW  ESP Ander Barrenetxea 23 MF  ESP Luca Sangalli 24 DF  FRA Robin Le Normand 25 FW  ESP Jon Bautista 28 MF  ESP Roberto López 36 MF  ESP Martín Zubimendi

Reserve team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 26 DF  ESP Jon Pacheco 29 MF  ESP Robert Navarro 32 DF  FRA Jérémy Blasco 33 DF  ESP Aritz Arambarri

No. Pos. Nation Player 34 GK  ESP Gaizka Ayesa 35 FW  ESP Julen Lobete 37 DF  ESP Urko González de Zárate — DF  ESP Álex Sola

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ESP Andoni Zubiaurre (at Cultural Leonesa until 30 June 2021) — DF  POR Kévin Rodrigues (at Eibar until 30 June 2021)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  FRA Naïs Djouahra (at Mirandés until 30 June 2021) — FW  BRA Willian José (at Wolverhampton Wanderers until 30 June 2021)

Transfers

In

Date	Player	From	Type	Fee	Ref
30 June 2020	Jon Bautista	Eupen	Loan return
30 June 2020	Gerónimo Rulli	Montpellier	Loan return
20 July 2020	Kévin Rodrigues	Leganés	Loan return
21 July 2020	Jon Guridi	Mirandés	Loan return
21 July 2020	Martín Merquelanz	Albacete	Loan return
21 July 2020	Modibo Sagnan	Mirandés	Loan return
17 August 2020	David Silva	Manchester City	Transfer	Free
24 January 2021	Carlos Fernández	Sevilla	Transfer	€10M

Out

Date	Player	To	Type	Fee	Ref
20 July 2020	Martin Ødegaard	Real Madrid	Loan return
20 July 2020	David Zurutuza	Retired
4 August 2020	Raúl Navas	Osasuna	Buyout clause	€250K
4 September 2020	Gerónimo Rulli	Villarreal	Transfer	€5M
12 September 2020	Kévin Rodrigues	Eibar	Loan
24 September 2020	Diego Llorente	Leeds United	Transfer	€20M
30 September 2020	Naïs Djouahra	Mirandés	Loan
1 October 2020	Andoni Zubiaurre	Cultural Leonesa	Loan
23 January 2021	Willian José	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Loan

Pre-season and friendlies

  Win   Draw   Loss

22 August 2020 Friendly	Real Sociedad	3–1	UD Logroñés	Zubieta, Spain
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Willian José 4' Portu 39' (pen.), 40'	Report	Andy 52' (pen.)	Stadium: Campo José Luis Orbegozo Attendance: 0 Referee: Rezola Etxeberria

28 August 2020 Friendly	Rio Ave	Cancelled	Real Sociedad	Vila do Conde, Portugal
12:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Estádio dos Arcos

29 August 2020 Friendly	Famalicão	Cancelled	Real Sociedad	Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal
18:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Estádio Municipal 22 de Junho

29 August 2020 Friendly	Real Sociedad	2–2	Huesca	Zubieta, Spain
18:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Merino 47' Bautista 88'	Report	Juan Carlos 33' Mir 69' (pen.)	Stadium: Campo José Luis Orbegozo Attendance: 0 Referee: Rezola Etxeberria

2 September 2020 Friendly	Villarreal	2–0	Real Sociedad	Villarreal, Spain
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Coquelin 2' Alcácer 30' (pen.)	Report	Elustondo  45+2'	Stadium: Ciudad Deportiva Attendance: 0 Referee: Iván Caparrós Hernández

5 September 2020 Friendly	Real Sociedad	2–2	Alavés	Zubieta, Spain
11:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Bautista 57' (pen.) Aldasoro 64'	Report	Pérez 7' Joselu 75'	Stadium: Campo José Luis Orbegozo Attendance: 0 Referee: Palencia Caballero

5 September 2020 EH Txapela	Real Sociedad	1–0	Osasuna	San Sebastián, Spain
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Willian José 32' (pen.)	Report	Herrera  30' Roncaglia  73'	Stadium: Anoeta Attendance: 0 Referee: Ibai Rezola Etxeberria

Competitions

Overview

Source: Soccerway

La Liga

League table

1. Since the winners of the 2020–21 Copa del Rey, Barcelona, qualified for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League based on league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners (Europa League group stage) was passed to the sixth-placed team, and the spot awarded to the sixth-placed team (2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round) was passed to the seventh-placed team, Villarreal.
2. Villarreal qualified for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League by winning the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League. Based on their league position (7th), they would have received the spot above to enter the Europa Conference League play-off round. This spot was vacated without replacement as per UEFA regulations.

Results summary

Source: La Liga

Results by round

Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 31 August 2020.

Copa del Rey

Supercopa de España

The draw was held on 17 December 2020.

UEFA Europa League

Group stage

The group stage draw was held on 2 October 2020.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		NAP	RSO	AZ	RJK
1	Napoli	6	3	2	1	7	4	+3	11	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–1	0–1	2–0
2	Real Sociedad	6	2	3	1	5	4	+1	9			0–1	—	1–0	2–2
3	AZ	6	2	2	2	7	5	+2	8			1–1	0–0	—	4–1
4	Rijeka	6	1	1	4	6	12	−6	4			1–2	0–1	2–1	—

22 October 2020 1	Rijeka	0–1	Real Sociedad	Rijeka, Croatia
18:55 CEST (UTC+2)	Andrijašević  1' Pavičić  36' Capan  90' Lepinjica  90+7'	Report	Merino  90' Bautista 90+3'	Stadium: Stadion Rujevica Attendance: 2,089 Referee: Bartosz Frankowski (Poland)

29 October 2020 2	Real Sociedad	0–1	Napoli	San Sebastián, Spain
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Le Normand  72'	Report	Lozano  45' Politano 56' Osimhen  81'  90+2'	Stadium: Anoeta Attendance: 0 Referee: Craig Pawson (England)

5 November 2020 3	Real Sociedad	1–0	AZ	San Sebastián, Spain
18:55 CET (UTC+1)	Silva  45+1' Portu 58'	Report	Guðmundsson  7' Druijf  72' Svensson  90+2'	Stadium: Anoeta Attendance: 0 Referee: John Beaton (Scotland)

26 November 2020 4	AZ	0–0	Real Sociedad	Alkmaar, Netherlands
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Midtsjø  26' Svensson  42' Martins Indi  75' Chatzidiakos  79' Boadu  90+3'	Report	Oyarzabal  75'	Stadium: AFAS Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (North Macedonia)

3 December 2020 5	Real Sociedad	2–2	Rijeka	San Sebastián, Spain
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Merino  23' Bautista 69' Monreal 79'	Report	Velkovski 38' Andrijašević  41' Halilović  68' Lončar 73'	Stadium: Anoeta Attendance: 0 Referee: João Pinheiro (Portugal)

10 December 2020 6	Napoli	1–1	Real Sociedad	Naples, Italy
18:55 CET (UTC+1)	Mertens  25' Zieliński 35' Lozano  41' Fabián  59'	Report	Zubimendi  39' Le Normand  68' Zubeldia  82' Willian José 90+2'	Stadium: Stadio San Paolo Attendance: 0 Referee: Orel Grinfeld (Israel)

Knockout phase

Round of 32

The draw for the round of 32 was held on 14 December 2020.

18 February 2021 First leg	Real Sociedad	0–4	Manchester United	Turin, Italy
18:55 CET (UTC+1)	Le Normand  89'	Report	Wan-Bissaka  8' Fernandes 27', 57' Rashford 65' James 90'	Stadium: Juventus Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Sandro Schärer (Switzerland)
Note: The match, originally to be played at Anoeta in San Sebastián, was moved to Juventus Stadium in Turin, due to restrictions imposed by Spain on travelers from the United Kingdom out of concern of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7.

25 February 2021 Second leg	Manchester United	0–0 (4–0 agg.)	Real Sociedad	Manchester, England
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Fred  41' Williams  50' Lindelöf  65'	Report	Oyarzabal 14'	Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 0 Referee: Lawrence Visser (Belgium)

Statistics

Squad statistics

Last updated on 22 May 2021. Does not include the 2020 Copa del Rey Final, delayed until April 2021 and counted in the 2020–21 season in some resources – these stats are recorded under the 2019–20 Real Sociedad season article.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		La Liga		Copa del Rey		Supercopa de España		UEFA Europa League
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	ESP	Álex Remiro	48	0	38	0	2	0	1	0	7	0
13	GK	ESP	Miguel Ángel Moyá	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Defenders
2	DF	ESP	Joseba Zaldúa	18	0	6+6	0	1	0	0+1	0	4	0
6	DF	ESP	Aritz Elustondo	28	1	22+1	1	2	0	0	0	3	0
12	DF	ESP	Aihen Muñoz	19	0	14+2	0	1	0	0	0	1+1	0
15	DF	FRA	Modibo Sagnan	21	0	7+9	0	1	0	0	0	3+1	0
18	DF	ESP	Andoni Gorosabel	40	0	28+4	0	1	0	1	0	3+3	0
20	DF	ESP	Nacho Monreal	35	2	23+3	1	1	0	1	0	7	1
24	DF	FRA	Robin Le Normand	43	0	30+3	0	1+1	0	1	0	7	0
26	DF	ESP	Jon Pacheco	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	DF	ESP	Aritz Arambarri	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
4	MF	ESP	Asier Illarramendi	9	0	6	0	2	0	0	0	1	0
5	MF	ESP	Igor Zubeldia	31	1	21+3	1	0+2	0	1	0	4	0
7	MF	ESP	Portu	47	9	24+13	8	1	0	1	0	5+3	1
8	MF	ESP	Mikel Merino	36	2	25+1	2	1	0	1	0	8	0
11	MF	BEL	Adnan Januzaj	36	4	12+15	4	0+1	0	0+1	0	5+2	0
14	MF	ESP	Jon Guridi	22	0	8+9	0	1+1	0	1	0	0+2	0
16	MF	ESP	Ander Guevara	38	1	25+6	1	0+1	0	1	0	4+1	0
17	MF	ESP	Martín Merquelanz	17	0	4+9	0	1+1	0	0	0	0+2	0
21	MF	ESP	David Silva	26	2	17+4	2	0	0	0	0	5	0
23	MF	ESP	Luca Sangalli	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	MF	ESP	Roberto López	20	3	4+13	3	1	0	0	0	0+2	0
29	MF	ESP	Robert Navarro	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
36	MF	ESP	Martín Zubimendi	41	0	17+14	0	1+1	0	0+1	0	5+2	0
37	MF	ESP	Urko González	2	0	1+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
9	FW	ESP	Carlos Fernández	12	1	4+7	1	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
10	FW	ESP	Mikel Oyarzabal	43	13	30+3	11	1+1	1	1	1	7	0
19	FW	SWE	Alexander Isak	44	17	30+4	17	1	0	1	0	7+1	0
22	FW	ESP	Ander Barrenetxea	40	3	13+18	3	1+1	0	0+1	0	0+6	0
25	FW	ESP	Jon Bautista	27	2	0+21	0	0	0	0+1	0	0+5	2
Players who have made an appearance this season but have left the club
3	DF	ESP	Diego Llorente	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	FW	BRA	Willian José	21	6	8+5	3	1	2	0+1	0	1+5	1
30	GK	ESP	Andoni Zubiaurre	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goalscorers

As of 30 January 2021

Rank	No.	Pos	Nat	Name	La Liga	Copa del Rey	Supercopa de España	Europa League	Total
1	13	MF		Mikel Oyarzabal	11	1	1	0	13
2	7	MF		Portu	5	0	0	1	6
	9	FW		Willian José	3	2	0	1	6
	14	FW		Alexander Isak	6	0	0	0	6
5	11	MF		Adnan Januzaj	2	0	0	0	2
	28	MF		Roberto López	2	0	0	0	2
	25	FW		Jon Bautista	0	0	0	2	2
	20	DF		Nacho Monreal	1	0	0	1	2
	22	FW		Ander Barrenetxea	2	0	0	0	2
10	8	MF		Mikel Merino	1	0	0	0	1
	21	MF		David Silva	1	0	0	0	1
Own goal					1	0	0	0	1
Totals					32	3	1	5	41

Notes

1. ^ The match was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.
2. ^ Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the match was played behind closed doors.

References

1. "First team numbers and shirt names". Real Sociedad. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
2. "La Real Sociedad confirma la cesión de Jon Bautista al KAS Eupen belga". EiTB Radio. 11 July 2019.
3. "Le MHSC tient son nouveau gardien: Gerónimo Rulli" [MHSC has its new keeper: Gerónimo Rulli] (in French). Montpellier HSC's official website. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
4. "Acuerdo para su cesión al CD Leganés" [Agreement for his loan to CD Leganés] (in Spanish). CD Leganés. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
5. "Acuerdo para su cesión al Mirandés" [Agreement for their loan to Mirandés] (in Spanish). Real Sociedad. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
6. "Oficial: Merquelanz y Guridi, cedidos un año al Mirandés" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 19 July 2019.
7. "Loan agreement with CD Mirandés". Real Sociedad. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
8. "La Real ficha a David Silva". Real Sociedad. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020.
9. "Oficial: la Real Sociedad incorpora a Carlos Fernández". AS. 24 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
10. "Agreement over the transfer of Martin Odegaard". Real Sociedad. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
11. "David Zurutuza cuelga las botas en la Real Sociedad con una subasta solidaria" (in Spanish). Goal. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
12. "Osasuna se hace con los servicios de Raúl Navas". Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
13. "Gero Rulli is a Yellow!". Villarreal CF. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
14. "Real and SD Eibar agree Kevin loan deal". Real Sociedad. 12 September 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
15. "Leeds United sign Diego Llorente". Leeds United. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
16. "Oficial: Nais Djouahra jugará cedido en el Mirandés esta temporada" (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
17. "Oficial: Zubiaurre se marcha a la Cultural Leonesa" (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
18. "Willian Jose: Wolves sign Real Sociedad striker on loan". BBC Sport. 23 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
19. "Reglamento General – Art. 201" (PDF) (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
20. "El sorteo del calendario de Primera División, mañana lunes a las 18:30 en la sede de la RFEF". rfef.es (in Spanish). 30 August 2020.
21. "El calendario oficial de LaLiga Santander 2020/21, a un clic". laliga.com (in Spanish). 31 August 2020.
22. "La Liga pins hopes on the unpredictable as Spanish football returns without heavyweights". Yahoo Sports. 11 September 2020. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
23. "LaLiga adelanta el Madrid-Athletic y el Barça-Real Sociedad al 15 y 16 de diciembre". BeSoccer (in Spanish). 20 November 2020.
24. Due to the on-going renovations of the Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid played their home matches at the Alfredo di Stéfano.
25. "Matchday 33 of LaLiga Santander has been brought forward". laliga.com. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
26. "La RFEF celebra mañana Asamblea extraordinaria y los sorteos de las Supercopas masculina y femenina". rfef.es. 16 December 2020. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
27. "Supercopa semi-finals: Real Sociedad vs Barcelona and Real Madrid vs Athletic Club". marca.com. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
28. "2020/21 UEFA Europa League: all you need to know". UEFA.com. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
29. "Europa League round of 32 draw: all you need to know". UEFA.com. 14 December 2020.
30. "UEFA Europa League venue changes". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
31. "Europa League: Real Sociedad v Manchester United in Turin; Benfica v Arsenal in Rome". BBC Sport. 9 February 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.

External links

• Official website

• Real Sociedad seasons
• Spanish football clubs 2020–21 season
• 2020–21 UEFA Europa League participants seasons
• 2020 in the Basque Country (autonomous community)
• 2021 in the Basque Country (autonomous community)