Like I said on this morning’s podcast, Manchester United made Real Sociedad look muck on Thursday night. Where was David Silva or this apparently brilliant side ready to sweep the floor with United? Non-existent, extremely naïve and levels below this United side. That’s how I saw it.
With four away goals and a clean sheet we now look very well placed to progress to the next round of the Europa League. It may be Europe’s competition for second-rate teams, but I remember the joy it brought us in 2017 and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs to win a trophy.
The Spanish media have been reacting to last night’s game and it’s interesting to pick up on what they’re saying about United, Bruno Fernandes and our overall performance. Like I alluded to at the beginning of this piece, we gave La Real a real lesson.
As highlighted and translated by Sport Witness, there’s some criticism going the way of the Basque side, yet a lot of praise for United.
AS claim: ‘Real Sociedad was hit by a hurricane called Manchester United at the Juventus Stadium in Turin and is practically eliminated from the Europa League.’
They added: ‘Manchester United brought them back to harsh reality and showed him what powerful teams do in Europe.’
Another fantastic take picked up from the AS pages comes from a columnist, who writes: ‘The United forwards looked like gazelles free across the African savannah every time they ran, while Real Sociedad defenders followed as if they were riding behind in a smoking Seat 600.’
Football Espana editor Colin Millar wasn’t too happy about the commentators’ mispronunciation every time they said “Sociedad” instead of Real Sociedad or La Real.
Watching British TV coverage of Real Sociedad v Manchester United. It's not "Sociedad". It's Real Sociedad, or La Real. Almost as irritating as Sheffield United being referred to as "Sheffield" by British pundits 🤪
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) February 18, 2021
Meanwhile, Marca gave Solskjaer three stars for his management of the first leg. They also singled out Fernandes for his performance on the night.
Read more: (Video) Solskjaer admits Henderson could start against Newcastle United
My berating of JAMES must have rubbed off” on the lad,he made up for his easy miss with a tricky,,through ya legs Pal” goal,best keep him on the bench against the Coal diggers” incase he gets any ideas about scoring any more,keep it up lad, you owe us big time !
This turns out to be one of the best performance i have seen from in recent weeks. Great teams score all the great goals
I am still very unsure about the inclusion of mr. James in any of our sides, to me he has a turn of pace, then huffs and puffs around the field for the rest of the time he’s on the park, contributing very little else, he will not turn into a United great, best if he moves on now with the abundance of talent nlining up behind him