Real Sociedad enter the 2026/27 season with two realities that are difficult to separate. The first is that they have just completed one of the best campaigns in their history. The second is that the team responsible for defending that progress is no longer quite the same.
Third place and 66 points took the club back to the Champions League. They also raised expectations, accelerated the summer rebuild and turned August into an immediate test: Chelsea, the start of Liga F, the return leg of the European qualifier and two significant absences caused by the Under-20 World Cup.
The challenge is not simply to qualify again. It is to prove that last season’s leap belonged to the project, rather than to an unrepeatable combination of players, form and circumstances.
From 41 to 66 points in one season
The scale of the improvement becomes clearer when the last two league campaigns are placed alongside each other.
Real Sociedad finished seventh in 2024/25 with 41 points, 40 goals scored and 45 conceded. One year later, they ended the Liga F season in third with 66 points, 61 goals for and only 27 against.
That represents 25 additional points, 21 more goals scored and 18 fewer conceded. It was not an improvement confined to one area. The team attacked better, defended better and learned how to win matches requiring very different approaches.
They were also the only side to defeat Barcelona in the league. The 1-0 victory at Zubieta demonstrated the group’s competitive ceiling, but Champions League qualification was built primarily elsewhere: in the matches that demanded patience, concentration and consistency against teams from the middle and lower parts of the table.
That is the real point of comparison. Real Sociedad have already shown that they can reach an exceptional level. They must now turn it into a habit.
Arturo Ruiz retains the method
Arturo Ruiz’s continuity prevents the summer from becoming a complete rebuild. The head coach begins his second season with a recognisable identity and a squad already familiar with his demands.
Real Sociedad regularly started in a 4-4-2 but could shift into a 3-5-2 with high wing-backs. The structure changed according to the opposition without abandoning the same intentions: counter-pressing, aggression out of possession, occupation of the inside channels and the ability to attack with several players.
Ruiz explained last season that his team adapted their structure to each opponent while maintaining a common identity. He also identified their work without the ball as one of the main areas of growth following the 5-5 draw with Atlético Madrid.
Those lessons remain. Some of the players responsible for applying them have changed.
Twenty-eight goals have left the dressing room
The main question facing Real Sociedad becomes apparent when examining their attacking production in 2025/26.
Edna Imade scored 11 league goals before Bayern brought her loan to an early end in January. Claire Lavogez and Lucía Pardo scored six each, Emma Ramírez contributed four and Lucía Rodríguez added one.
Together, those players accounted for 28 of Real Sociedad’s 61 league goals. Almost 46 per cent of the team’s production came from footballers who are no longer in the squad.
Even that figure does not tell the whole story. Andreia Jacinto did not score in Liga F, but supplied four assists and played a central role in sustaining possession, beating pressure and connecting midfield with attack. Her move to Real Madrid leaves mechanisms to rebuild that cannot be measured through goals alone.
The club officially said goodbye to Lucía Rodríguez, Andreia Jacinto, Emma Ramírez, Claire Lavogez and Lucía Pardo after the final match of the season. Mirari Uria and Elene Guridi have also departed.
Real Sociedad do not need to find an exact replacement for each player. They need to redistribute their minutes, responsibilities and goals.
Recruitment has focused on production
The six new arrivals address that problem through different profiles.
Sonya Keefe joins after scoring 11 goals in 28 Liga F appearances for Granada. She is a forward accustomed to attacking space and taking responsibility for a significant part of her team’s finishing.
Ainhoa Marín contributed six goals and five assists for Deportivo while ranking among the league’s most prolific dribblers. Ainoa Campo scored five times from midfield for Espanyol, and Laura Camino added three goals for Eibar.
Those four players combined for 25 Liga F goals last season. They have not been recruited merely as squad alternatives: they arrive with proven production in the same competition.
Ava Seelenfreund expands the options after scoring 12 goals in all competitions for Torreense. The American has already provided an early indication of what she can offer by scoring in the 3-1 victory over Athletic Club in the EH Kopa final.
Esther Laborde completes the recruitment with a different purpose. Her ability to operate as a centre-back, full-back or midfielder provides a necessary solution following the departures of Lucía Rodríguez and Emma Ramírez.
There is no direct replacement for Edna Imade. Instead, Real Sociedad have assembled an attack containing more potential scorers and greater scope to change structure.
Defence remains the safety net
Real Sociedad did not return to Europe solely because they scored 61 goals. They did so because they reduced their goals conceded from 45 to 27.
Julia Arrula allowed 19 goals in 22 matches, kept 11 clean sheets and finished as the goalkeeper with the best goals-against average among those who made at least 20 appearances. Alazne Estensoro completed the other eight fixtures, conceding eight times and keeping three clean sheets.
The continuity of Arrula, Nahia Aparicio, Claudia Florentino, María Molina and Ainhoa Moraza preserves a significant part of that foundation. Paula Fernández, selected in the league’s Team of the Season after contributing three goals and four assists, will continue to protect and organise the midfield.
The uncertainty lies in the wide areas. Lucía Rodríguez and Emma Ramírez provided experience, depth and the ability to operate at different heights. Laborde compensates for part of that loss, but the team’s width will also depend on Aiara Agirrezabala’s development and the adaptation of the new forwards.
If Real Sociedad preserve their defensive level, they will have time to build a new distribution of goals. If they move back towards the 45 conceded in 2024/25, they will be asking a redesigned attack to solve too many problems at once.
The immediate price of developing young talent
Aiara can no longer be treated merely as a player for the future. She played almost 2,000 league minutes last season, scored six goals and supplied four assists from the left flank.
Her forward runs turned that side of the pitch into a consistent source of advantages. She also allowed Ruiz to change structure without making a substitution.
The defender has been selected alongside Alazne Estensoro for the Under-20 World Cup in Poland. Spain will begin their training camp on 27 August, with the tournament running from 5 to 27 September.
Both will therefore be available for the first leg against Chelsea, but will miss the opening league fixture and the return leg of the European tie. In Aiara’s case, Real Sociedad are not simply losing a defender. They will temporarily be without six goals, an important source of width and one of their main tools for changing shape.
It is a positive consequence of Zubieta’s development work, but also a genuine competitive difficulty.
Chelsea arrive before Liga F begins
The competitive season will begin in London on 26 August. Real Sociedad face Chelsea in the third qualifying round of the Champions League before hosting the return leg at Zubieta on 2 September.
Between the two matches, they will begin their Liga F campaign at home to Logroño United. A trip to Granada follows.
The schedule contains four competitive fixtures in 13 days:
- 26 August: Chelsea–Real Sociedad.
- 29 August: Real Sociedad–Logroño United.
- 2 September: Real Sociedad–Chelsea.
- 7 September: Granada–Real Sociedad.
There is no gradual period of adjustment. The team must learn how to compete with their new forwards while simultaneously playing for a place in the Champions League phase.
Pre-season has shown reasonable progress. Real Sociedad began with a 2-0 defeat by Torreense and did not lose again: they drew with Logroño United, OL Lyonnes and Alavés, won at Osasuna, edged Eibar on penalties after another draw and completed their preparations by beating Athletic Club 3-1. Seelenfreund opened her account in that final, while Nerea Eizagirre again contributed in a decisive moment.
The result of the qualifier should not define the entire season. Chelsea represent a far greater obstacle than a conventional qualifying opponent. The two matches will nevertheless reveal how much of Real Sociedad’s structure remains intact and how much work is still required to integrate the new attack.
What should be expected
Demanding an exact repeat of 66 points would be unrealistic. It was a historic total, and competition for the European places has increased.
Real Sociedad should still be expected to remain part of that conversation. Third place can no longer be treated as a completely unexpected appearance. The club have retained their head coach, preserved the foundation of their defence and recruited enough attacking production to compete near the top.
The most important indicators will be different:
- Preserving the defensive solidity that reduced their goals conceded to 27.
- Collectively replacing the 28 goals that have left the squad.
- Preventing Andreia’s departure from reducing midfield control.
- Integrating six new players without sacrificing tactical flexibility.
- Managing the increased fixture load and international absences without damaging the rotation.
Real Sociedad proved last season that they could survive the mid-season departure of their leading scorer. Now they must do it from the first day, with a qualifier against Chelsea and a significant part of the attack redesigned.
This season is not about protecting the memory of those 66 points. It is about proving that the method behind them can survive the names.
