The 2013–14 season was Real Sociedad's 67th season in La Liga. Real Sociedad finished 7th in the league and reached the semifinals of the Copa del Rey. The Basque failed to make it out of the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.
Season summary
Philippe Montanier, who left for Stade Rennais, was replaced by Jagoba Arrasate, his assistant manager.[1] Preseason was marked by the shock sale of Asier Illarramendi to Real Madrid.[2] Real Sociedad lost the player that had been its most influential midfielder during the previous season. The club signed Haris Seferovic [3] and landed Esteban Granero [4] and Jose Angel Valdes [5] on loan.
Participation in the UEFA Champions League
In the Champions League preliminary round draw Real Sociedad were not seeded and were to face seeded opponents from Europe´s biggest leagues.[6] They were drawn against Olympique Lyonnais, with the second leg to be played in Anoeta. Preparations for the Champions league play-off round were marked by the long-term injuries of Mikel Gonzalez, Imanol Agirretxe and the less important Diego Ifran.
Preseason consisted of matches against lower division Basque clubs, Sporting Lisbon and English clubs. These matches were disappointing for Real Sociedad in both results and quality of play.
The first official game of the season was played at home against Getafe. The Madrilians were easily beaten[7] a few days before travelling to Lyon. At the Stade Gerland Real Sociedad inflicted the hosts a shock defeat with a 0-2 result in favour of the Basque. After an unremarkable draw at Elche that weekend Real Sociedad welcomed Lyon. Once again the French were convincingly beaten with a 2-0 score. Thus the Guipuscoans entered the champions league group stage.[8]
With no European participations in the 5 preceding seasons Real Sociedad was in pot 4. In the draw they were put together with Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk and Bayer Leverkusen, the first two of these being holding champions of their respective leagues.
The Champions league had a bitter outcome for Real Sociedad. The first two matches were fairly balanced but late goals in both games meant being bottom right before a double confrontation with Manchester United. As expected, Real Sociedad was comprehensively outplayed in both matches against the Mancunians. However they only conceded one goal, in Manchester. With a single point after 4 matches their chances of surviving this stage looked slim. The last 2 matches were lost too.[9]
Copa del rey
Thanks to being in the Champions League Real Sociedad entered the 2a pot in the copa del rey. This meant they faced an opponent from Segunda División B or Tercera División in the round of 32. Algeciras was easily beaten on a 5-1 aggregate while resting some of the main players. In the quarterfinals Real Sociedad faced Villareal. Both sides played with many substitutes in their starting lineups. Real Sociedad went through on a 0-1 aggregate score. A bizarre tie against Racing de Santander followed. The Cantabrians refused to play the second leg unless their club’s governing body resigned. The match wasn’t played and Real sociedad advanced to the next round. FC Barcelona awaited in the semifinals, in a prestigious tie that was eventually won by the Catalans. Refereeing in the first leg was surrounded by controversy.
Reaching the semifinals was the best performance in the cup since 1988.
League
In the league Real Sociedad started slowly but stabilized in the 6th position in late November. Exiting European competition only helped the club, focused on domestic duties. The last game played in 2013 was the derby against Athletic Bilbao. Real Sociedad emerged victorious from a very physical battle. At that point it seemed like Real Sociedad would fight for 4th spot with Athletic Bilbao. An emphatic 5-1 demolition at the hands of Villarreal CF right after the derby created doubts.
January and February
January and February were very positive and 4th spot still appeared attainable. The highlight of this period was the convincing 3-1 victory over FC Barcelona in Anoeta. This happened after Barcelona’s controversial victory in the Copa del Rey and was seen by many as a revenge.
March and onwards
In March the team's performances worsened drastically and the Basque unexpectedly lost to Rayo Vallecano at home (2-3) and Almeria away (4-3). Athletic Bilbao comfortably ensured 4th place and Real Sociedad found itself in a fight to avoid 7th place against Villareal and Sevilla. Defeat to Villareal on the last matchday meant Real Sociedad finished 7th and had to play third qualifying round of the Europa League in July 2014.
During this season Real Sociedad played more matches than ever in its history. This and the early preparations for the Champions League preliminary round were suggested to be behind the drop in stamina that happened from March onwards.
The performances of Carlos Vela and Antoine Griezmann were the highlight of the season. These two ended up as joint top goal scorers and made the difference in many matches.
Others
In November 2013 Real Sociedad and Kazakh club FC Astana signed a cooperation agreement.[10][11]
On 20 January 2014 it was announced that Vela had won the La Liga Player of the Month for December and Arrasate the La Liga Manager of the Month.[12] In April 2014 Arrasate had his contract renewed until 2016.[13]
In 2014 Real Sociedad were awarded the 2013-14 Liga BBVA Fair Play Club prize at the 2014 LFP Awards Ceremony.[14]
Annual general meeting
In December 2013 the annual general meeting took place. In addition to approving the new budget and the previous year's accounts a governing body had to be voted. This has to be done every 5 years and Jokin Aperribay had been voted in in 2008. As expected Aperribay and the rest of the governing body were comfortably re-elected.[15][16]
Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Start formations
- Starting XI
Lineup that started most of the club's competitive matches throughout the season.
Player transfers
In
Total expenditure: €2 million
Out
Total revenue: €38.9 million
Net income: 
€36.9 million
Technical staff
| Position | Name |
| First team manager |
Jagoba Arrasate |
| 1st Assistant coach |
José María "Txema" Lumbreras |
| 2nd Assistant coach |
Bittor Alkiza |
| Goalkeeping coach |
Roberto Navajas |
| Physical trainer |
Karla Larburu |
|
[17][18]
Competitions
Legend
Win
Draw
Loss
Postponed
Pre-season and friendlies
La Liga
League table
2013–14 La Liga Table
Source: La Liga
Rules for classification:
1st points; 2nd head-to-head points;
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Results summary
| Overall | Home | Away |
|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 38 |
16 |
11 |
11 |
62 |
55 |
+7 |
59 |
11 |
4 |
4 |
38 |
19 |
+19 |
5 |
7 |
7 |
24 |
36 |
−12 |
Last updated: 13 July 2014.
Source: League matches
Results by round
| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | D | L | D | D | L | D | L | W | W | D | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | L | D | W | L | D | W | W | L | L | W | L | W | D | L | D | W | W | D | D | L |
| Position | 4 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
Matches
Copa del Rey
Round of 32
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
UEFA Champions League
Play-off round
Group stage
See also
Sources
External links
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