Real Sociedad will look to book a spot in the Champions League group stage when it faces French club Olympique Lyonnais in the second leg of the playoff on Wednesday.
The Spanish team heads home with a distinct advantage in the second leg. After a 2-0 win in France, Real Sociedad can settle into a defensive shell and look for a third goal via counterstrike. Lyonnais needs three goals to qualify.
While the lead looks comfortable, Sociedad could take some lessons from the Tuesday game between Austria Vienna and Dinamo Zagreb. The Austrian side headed home with a 2-0 aggregate lead. The team scored an early goal to take a 3-0 aggregate but then saw the opposition score two goals before half-time and another with under 20 minutes to go to level the score at 3-3; however, the away goals favored Zagreb and made it look like Vienna was headed for the exits. A late goal restored the qualification for Vienna, but the performance proved that anything could happen.
The Spanish club is far superior to the Austrian side, but the French squad will surely prove to be no pushover.
As of Tuesday evening, readers on Goal.com had Real Sociedad as the favorites to win the game: 59.1 percent of readers favored Sociedad, while only 23.7 percent favored Olympique Lyonnais. The remainder expected a draw from the matchup.
Prediction: Real Sociedad will likely play an aggressive match in front of its fans. If it scores early, look for a conservative match thereafter. 2-1 Real Sociedad.
Start Time: 2:45 p.m. EST
Watch Live stream HERE.
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