Based in the picturesque Basque city of San Sebastian, where Spain’s royal family used to spend their summers, Real Sociedad’s golden age was when they won back-to-back La Liga titles in the early 1980s.
Recent years have brought more sustained success, including winning the 2020 Copa del Rey and playing European football in each of the last five seasons.
Sporting director Roberto Olabe and head coach Imanol Alguacil are locally born former La Real players. 15 senior players are also products of the club’s Zubieta youth system.
A canny transfer policy has helped maintain the team’s level and the club’s finances. In 2019, Aleksander Isak was signed as a 19-year-old for €15million (£12.4m; $15.8m) and sold three years later to Newcastle for €70m.
Today’s game will be played at a packed 40,000-seater Anoeta, which was recently redeveloped. Further expansion is planned, given that the club has 37,936 season ticket holders and 5,815 on a waiting list.
