Real Sociedad vs Real Madrid. Spanish La Liga.
AnoetaAttendance27,653.
Sunday 21 August 2016 18:45, UK
Gareth Bale will be the only one of Real Madrid's star forward trio available for their La Liga opener against Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema are both unfit for the trip to San Sebastian, which is live on Sky Sports.
However, Bale has an impressive record at Anoeta, scoring in each of his three matches there for Madrid, and Zinedine Zidane has no doubts he can take on the mantle of attacking figurehead.
"Yes (he can be leader), but like always" Zidane said. "He's an important player in this team. He showed that last season and I think he can continue in the same way this season.
"He wants to continue making history with this great club. It's an important year for him, and for the others."
Madrid go into the match on the back of an impressive run in pre-season, beating Sevilla to win the UEFA Super Cup as well as downing Bayern Munich and Chelsea in the International Champions Cup.
Zidane is now hoping they can continue that form against Sociedad and improve on their start to last season, when they were held to a goalless draw at Sporting Gijon in their first match.
"We know that we have to start well and go out strong. We know that the opening stages of a competition are very important," said Zidane. "It's going to be a difficult game. We're ready and we're going to see what happens there. We then have two games at home and we want to start well."
Madrid are also without Luka Modric and Pepe for the trip north, but it is the fact Ronaldo will not be playing that Sociedad striker William Jose is most happy about.
The Brazilian knows Ronaldo well, having spent time on loan at Madrid in 2014, and he said of the Portugal captain's absence: "It's a relief.
"He's one of the best players in the world and can make the difference in a match, although we have to be wary of the rest of the team as well."
"I have good memories of my time there [at Real], it was a great experience and I met a lot of fantastic players, some of whom ended up winning the Champions League and Copa del Rey.
"I was enormously proud to be there and it was a great experience."
Sociedad are planning to pay tribute to the club's former striker Dalian Atkinson during the match. Atkinson, who spent the 1990-91 season with Sociedad, scoring 12 goals, died on Monday aged 48 after he was Tasered by police in Telford in England.
The Sociedad players will wear black armbands, and supporters are set to applaud in the ninth minute, in recognition of the shirt number the Englishman most regularly wore during his time in San Sebastian.
