Sami Hyypiä take his Leverkusen side off to the San Sebastian as they aim to better Shakhtar Donetsk's result against Manchester United to progress to the last sixteen. After a one-nil win in Dortmund at the weekend, Hyypiä's meen went six points clear of their Nord-Rhein Westphalian rivals, and kept within touching distance of Bayern Munich. They also have a DFB Pokal quarter final to look forward to after a two-one win in the week against Freiburg, this leaves die Werkself with just one domestic defeat all season and having only been beaten by Manchester United in Europe, they seem intent on letting everyone know they're here to compete on both the domestic and European fronts. In fine fettle, they should be wholy confident of qualification from the group, as Shakhtar have never won a game in England and Leverkusen have already beaten Real Sociedad at home in the competition, a repeat performance would more than please the German side. One of the main reasons for Leverkusen continuing their fine form despite Sidney Sam's injury is Heung Min-Son, the South Korean scored the winner against Dortmund and has six in his last four Bundesliga games. For the Westphalian's to progress, the must better the Ukrainian side's score against United, but should they take all three points at Old Trafford, they'll be playing in the Europa League for the remainder of the season. This is what they've had to say before the crucial clash:
“We’ve gained bags of confidence,” said Emre Can. The left back and his team-mates put in a great shift in the win at the weekend, but he said “that’s history now, as we definitely need all three points.”
Jagoba Arraste side are currently propping up Group A with a solitary point for their troubles, meaning that they can't qualify for the knockout rounds of either the Champions League or the Europa League. Despite their draw at home to Manchester United, it's been a poor showing from Real Sociedad in their first Champions League campaign, however their league form is vastly different. 'La Real' have only lost one of their last eight domestic games and are currently sitting sixth in La Liga, which is impressive after the orchestrator behind their success last season, Philippe Montanier, has moved on to Stade Rennes. Perhaps more impressively is that they've managed to keep hold of five of their front six going into this season, from Pardo up to Agirretxe, the Spaniards only lost Illarramendi to Real Madrid, but they did manage to retain the services of Antoine Griezmann and Carlos Vela, the Frenchman has already equalled his goal tally of last year. So my no means are Real Sociedad a push-over, meaning Leverkusen will have to be particularly wary on the break. Here's what midfielder Groka Elustondo had to say in the lead up to their game:
"Meeting a team like Bayer Leverkusen, at our stadium is a fantastic experience for us and as soon as the Champions League hymn starts, with our fans behind us, we won't be lacking motivation. This game also represents some extra in that it will boost our morale for the future and encouarge us ahead of our final games before the Christmas break. We're doing well in the league but gaining in a win in the Champions League is special – especially against a team like Bayer Leverkusen"
Neither side have any fresh injury concerns heading into the game, so it should be a great game to look and take part in for all conerns. Stats point towards a Leverkusen win and it is probably most likely that they'll snatch that second spot away from Shakhtar. The last match between the sides was decided by a last minute Jens Hegeler costless-kick, and this has all the makings of another close encounter.
Predicted XI's:
Real Sociedad: Bravo; Carlos Martínez, Iñigo Martínez, Mikael González, de la Bella; Bergara, Pardo; Griezmann, Xabi Prieto, Carlos Vela; Agirretxe.
Bayer Leverkusen: Leno; Donati, Wollscheid, Toprak, Can; Rolfes, Bender, Castro; Kruse, Kießling, Son.