Real Sociedad v Manchester United: Europa League last 16, first leg – live

55 min: Sociedad win a corner down the right. Before it can be taken, Fernandes is booked for one yap in the referee’s direction too many. Nothing comes of the set piece. Real still haven’t got an effort on target. Onana with a cigar on.

54 min: … but having said that, his team are doing OK here. Garnacho has another whack at goal, meeting a Dalot cutback with a first-time slap towards the bottom right. Remiro is positioned well to claim. United have had three shots on target to Real’s zero.

53 min: Sociedad hoick the ball out of play towards the dugouts. Ruben Amorim controls the ball, dropping from high, effortlessly and elegantly. He must wish he could select himself.

51 min: Fernandes gets back to work and sends the free kick wide right. United quickly come back at Sociedad, Zirkzee back-flicking elegantly down the left for Dorgu, who whistles a low ball through the six-yard box. Garnacho, racing in from the right, flutters the side netting. He should have hit the target at the very least. He really should have scored.

49 min: Zubeldia hauls back an in-flight Hojlund. A free kick just outside the D in a fairly central position. Zubeldia is correctly booked. Fernandes hassles the referee, presumably claiming the denial of a goalscoring opportunity. He’s entitled to try it on, but there were two other defenders around, so that’s not going to fly.

48 min: Kubo advances down the right and slides a cross towards the near post. Oyarzabal is on point, waiting to trundle home, but Yoro again makes a crucial intervention to hook clear. Better from the hosts.

47 min: Elustondo throws in long from the right. Yoro does well to clear at the near post under pressure. Maybe Sociedad have had a bollocking too.

La Real get the second half underway. No changes. United were sent out early by their manager, which may or may not be a post-bollocking state of affairs. They were the better side in the first half, for what that’s worth, so perhaps not.

Half-time entertainment. For your aural pleasure.

HALF TIME: Real Sociedad 0-0 Manchester United

45 min +2: Another Real corner, Kubo sending this one in from the right. Onana flaps it clear, and he was being fouled by Zubeldia anyway.

45 min +1: That was probably more of a hand-ball than the one Hojlund was just penalised for, Zirkzee’s arm away from his torso, but it would still have been harsh. Anyway, United aren’t complaining.

45 min: Sučić nearly works himself some space on the edge of the United box but the ball’s taken off his toe and deflected wide left. Kubo’s corner rears up and hits Zirkzee on the arm, but that’s never going to be a penalty.

44 min: Hojlund robs Turrientes on the halfway line, and there’s a two-versus-one break on. But the ball ballooned up onto Hojlund’s tucked-in arm when the striker was in the process of winning it, and the referee blows up for a hand-ball. That’s pretty harsh, and has denied United a promising counter.

42 min: Fernandes drops deep and floats a long pass down the middle and into the Sociedad box. Remiro hesitates and doesn’t come. Dalot heads goalwards but doesn’t get any power on his effort, and it’s straight at Remiro as well.

40 min: Nothing comes of the resulting free kick.

39 min: Dalot hangs out a leg to cynically bring down Muñoz out on the left touchline. He should be booked, but absurdly gets away with a ticking off, joining a group of lucky Premier League lads that this week also includes Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ibrahima Konaté.

37 min: … and it nearly comes here! Dalot bursts into the box down the right. He crosses low for Fernandes, whose first-time drive fails to get through a crowded six-yard box. The ball rebounds to Zirkzee, who takes one shot – blocked – then flicks wide right. I think both of those shots were blocked by Elustondo, who earned his money there, and then some.

36 min: Some sterile domination by United. If ever a game needed a goal, this is it.

34 min: Kubo has been Sociedad’s best player so far, and his fancy footwork down the right wins the hosts their first corner of the evening. Kubo takes it himself, but it’s easily cleared. Neither keeper has had any meaningful work to do.

33 min: United are winning more duels now. It’s all fairly scrappy, though. “Spanish Royal Society plays host to the Premier League’s Royal Mess,” quips Peter Oh. “Heavy is the head that wears the crown!”

31 min: Another fine long Mazraoui pass. This time it releases Dorgu down the left. He cuts back in the hope of finding Zirkzee. Aguerd is forced to turn behind for a corner, from which nothing comes. Mazraoui playing the role of quarterback pretty well so far tonight.

29 min: Dorgu is back … and now Oyarzabal is down, having been clipped from behind by Yoro. He eventually hauls himself back up. This isn’t helping the flow.

28 min: It might be just an impact injury that’ll sort itself out once the sting subsides. Dorgu is able to walk off and looks ready to return.

27 min: A worry for United as Dorgu goes down with a pained look on his face, holding his left thigh.

26 min: Real Sociedad pass it around patiently, but with little urgency, and go nowhere. This game hasn’t quite taken off yet.

24 min: Play restarts. Incidentally, Aguerd, currently on loan in the Basque Country from West Ham, is reportedly a summer target for United.

22 min: It’s Ramadan, and the sun has dipped. A chance for Nayef Aguerd to break his fast and take on board some fuel. A brief pause in play as he does so.

20 min: … so having said that, Dalot is sent scampering down the right by a glorious long pass from Mazraoui. An easy pass inside to Hojlund, free in the middle, is on, but inexplicably turned down. The ball’s eventually cut back for Garnacho, who then finds Dorgu, who blazes over the bar. Hojlund is fuming – he’d have surely been slotting from ten yards had the ball been delivered to him – and has a short conversation with Dalot about it.

18 min: Turrientes goes on another barrelling run, this time down the inside-left channel, this time leaving Fernandes for dead. He reaches the edge of the box before scuffing a rushed shot. The hosts beginning to get on top.

16 min: Kubo looks lively. Now he attempts a one-two with Barrenetxea, but the pass coming back is no good. He’d have been bursting into the box otherwise.

15 min: Kubo one-twos with Oyarzabal to make some space down the right. United suddenly look out of shape, so they’re fortunate that Kubo slips, allowing Dorgu to intercept and clear.

13 min: Turrientes dribbles down the inside-right channel, leaving Casemiro in his wake. He lays off to Kubo, who in turn finds Mendez. Finally a cross comes in. Onana claims. It’s a fairly open game.

12 min: Garnacho is back on his usual beat out left. He’s fed by Hojlund, and cuts infield before aiming a powerful curler towards the bottom right. Remiro is behind it all the way.

10 min: Dalot curls a pass down the right for Hojlund, who battles hard to keep possession. Play’s switched to the left where Dorgu wins the first corner of the match. Fernandes swings it in, but it’s headed clear at the near post without too much drama.

8 min: A fairly quiet start to the game. Fernandes tries to release Dalot into space down the right but there’s nowhere to go and the move peters out.

6 min: A free kick for Sociedad out on the right. Kubo curls it in. Dalot heads half-clear. Barrenetxea returns the ball into the mixer from the left. Too long. Kubo tries again from the other side. He can neither get a cross in nor a shot away. United finally clear their lines.

4 min: Garnacho has started the game on the right. Hojlund fills in on the left with a direct dribble and low cross that’s easily cleared, but the run offers United some early hope.

2 min: Onana takes receipt of a Yoro backpass. Oyarzabal nearly closes him down, but is sent off to the nearest pintxos bar by the keeper’s elegant pirouette. Spinning on the ball and selling a dummy six yards from your own goal with little more than 60 seconds on the clock took some nerve.

Manchester United get the ball rolling. Their season in the balance. San Sebastian so beautiful in the spring.

The teams are out. Home hymns pinging off the walls of an atmospheric Anoeta. Real Sociedad in their blue and white stripes, Manchester United in red shirts and black shorts. Not long now: we’ll be off once pennants are swapped, coins tossed and hands clasped.

Ruben Amorim talks to TNT Sports. “We need to be really strong … especially at the beginning of the game … it will be really intense … they are ready … we have tried to manage the load … I know in the second half we will feel it a little bit [after extra time in the FA Cup last weekend] … we are excited to be here … we can cope with the physicality of the game … we watch the opponent and try to see the spaces … they put a high line and [Rasmus Højlund] can use this space … he needs to enjoy again playing football … to stay focused on the small things … he will be OK … we need possession of the ball … if we have the ball it is impossible to score against us … if we lose it in the build-up they are really strong and fast to go to the goal … we are prepared for that … we need to improve the way we have possession … that is the main focus.”

That aforementioned 4-0 win for United in 2021, then. You wouldn’t think Sociedad think of that rout fondly, but they do. Kind of. “They overran us so clearly; the difference was huge,” their keeper Alex Remiro explains. “We could compete in terms of play but physically they were better than us in everything. It finished 4-0 but it could have been seven or eight. We were awful. And watching them it was like: ‘Bloody hell, this is …’ It was: ‘Wow!’ … From that game, from that loss, we started to place more stress on the duels.”

Six weeks later, Real beat arch rivals Bilbao in the cup final, their first silverware in 34 years. United’s display of tough love forms just one part of this illuminating interview with the Sociedad stopper. Yet another Sid Lowe gem.

Manchester United make three changes to the side that started the FA Cup defeat to Fulham. Harry Maguire and Manuel Ugarte are injured, while Christan Eriksen drops to the bench. Patrick Dorgu, Casemiro and Alejandro Garnacho take their places.

Hosts Real Sociedad must do without star midfielder Martín Zubimendi, who is ill. But they’re boosted by the return of captain and leading goalscorer Mikel Oyarzabal.

The teams

Preamble