Elche host Real Sociedad in La Liga round 4 as Martínez Valero marks its 50th anniversary

Context

On Monday evening, Elche CF hosted Real Sociedad in a La Liga matchday 4 fixture in Alicante. The match coincided with a special milestone for the club: the Martínez Valero stadium turns 50 on Tuesday, marking five decades since its inauguration. According to Elche CF's official website, the club organised a special pre-match ceremony around 21:15, after the teams' warm-up, honouring the stadium's history and the generations of local fans who have filled it over the years.

Lineups and changes

Elche, now led by new coach Martín Anselmi following a brief spell at Porto, started with goalkeeper Dituro, a back line of Sangaré, Chust and Bigas, a midfield of Morente, Buonanotte, Morcillo and Villar, and an attacking trio of Germán Valera, Fer Niño and Ezequiel Ponce. As reported by Infobae (EFE), this was the first match this season in which Javier Morcillo and Argentine forward Ezequiel Ponce started from the opening whistle.

Real Sociedad made six changes to their starting eleven compared with their previous match, with regular goalkeeper Álex Remiro replaced by Unai Marrero. The rest of the lineup featured Aramburu, Zubeldia, Sarr, Sergio Gómez, Carlos Soler, Yangel Herrera, Sucic, Guedes, Ochieng and Mikel Oyarzabal.

Team situation

According to a Diario Vasco report cited by OneFootball, Real Sociedad have looked tired of late, having played four matches in 14 days. Coach Pellegrino Matarazzo is relying on his more experienced players, including Oyarzabal, though the captain was less influential in the previous match against Celta. With the team short on goals, Matarazzo reportedly spoke personally with Takefusu Kubo about his form.

Elche, meanwhile, lost several key players over the summer: Affengruber moved to Fulham for €10 million, Febas joined Celta on a free transfer, and Álvaro Rodríguez went to Bournemouth for €25 million. Among the new additions is Fer Niño, signed from Burgos.

Match statistics

According to figures compiled by the BBC, Elche had more of the ball (54.8% to 45.2%) and completed more passes — 345 to Real Sociedad's 284 — with higher accuracy (87.8% versus 83.8%). Real Sociedad, however, created more shots — 9 to Elche's 6 — including more on target, 4 to 2, and won more corners, 4 to 3. Elche picked up two yellow cards, Real Sociedad one.