Real Sociedad's Kubo to face Real Madrid in La Liga matchday 5 – comments on former club.
Japanese international midfielder Takefusa Kubo, currently playing for Real Sociedad in Spain's La Liga, will face Real Madrid on September 14th, in Matchday 5 of La Liga. For Kubo, this will be a match against his former club. Ahead of the highly anticipated clash with last season's champions, who have attracted significant attention with the arrival of French international forward Kylian Mbappe, Kubo commented on the current Real Madrid team.
Last season, Real Madrid won both the UEFA Champions League (CL) and La Liga. However, this season, while their archrivals FC Barcelona have won all four of their league matches, Real Madrid has recorded two wins and two draws in the first four games.
The Real Madrid-focused media outlet "Managing Madrid" introduced Kubo's comments on the current Real Madrid team, as reported by the Spanish newspaper "Marca." Kubo said, "I think they are not delivering their best performance because the three forwards are playing in the same position. But that’s not our team's concern, and we only want to focus on our own team."
Regarding Mbappe, Kubo commented, "I think we will struggle more when he plays on the wing than when he’s at center forward. The same thing is happening in La Liga right now, and I expect the same tomorrow. It’s best for us if he doesn’t play on the wing because it’s almost impossible to stop him there.
When he plays as a center forward, we have to be wary of his explosive speed from nowhere, and we need to help each other out to make sure the player with the ball cannot look up and see him."
Kubo also expressed his discomfort with the term "former club" being used in reference to Real Madrid. "People say Real Madrid is my former club, but I never made my official debut there and was always out on loan. I have no special memories there. It's all in the past, and I’m focused on Real Sociedad. I don’t see Real Madrid as a former club, but rather as one of the biggest clubs in the world."
Lastly, Kubo declared his determination to shine in the big game against last season's double-winning team. "If you perform well in matches against big clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Atletico Madrid, you can leave a bigger impression and make a name for yourself. That’s a good thing," he said.