Second service eliga coach
© Imago
Trainer Imanol Alguacil will leave Real Sociedad at the end of the season after six and a half years. The 53-year-old announced his decision not to extend the expiring contract, the Basques announced on Thursday. The second-service elder Laliga coach takes his hat off to Atléticos Diego Simeone.
Alguacil already wore the Real Sociedad jersey as a player and worked for the club’s offspring from 2013. After a first short intermezzo in the final phase of the 2017/18 season, Alguacil took responsibility for the professionals at the end of December 2018, which since then under his leadership in 325 games – most in Real Sociedad’s history – took an average of 1.65 points.
Alguacil’s time at Real Sociedad is a success story. In 2020 the team won the Copa del Rey, the first title since 1987. Five times in a row, Real Sociedad recently reached the European Cup. In 2023/24, the club was in the Champions League for the third time and was eliminated in the round of 16 against PSG. In the current season, the Europa League also ended in the round of the last 16 against Man United.
“The sixth European ticket and the end of this wonderful story earn one last effort from everyone,” the club continued in its message, which is currently only ninth in Laliga and has two points behind the international places.