Real Sociedad vs Real Madrid, La Liga 2016/17: Where to watch live, preview, betting odds and possible XI

Real Sociedad take on Real Madrid on the opening weekend of the 2016/17 La Liga campaign

Zinedine Zidane will be looking to win his first La Liga title Getty Images

Real Madrid will travel to Real Sociedad as the La Liga embarks on its journey for the 2016/17 season at the Anoeta Stadium on Sunday, 21 August.

Where to watch live

Kick-off is set for 7:15pm BST. Live coverage of the game will be on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 1 HD.

Overview

Real Sociedad are set to begin their campaign by paying tributes to Dalian Atkinson during the game. He died at 48, having played for Sociedad in the 1990-91 season, scoring 12 goals in the process. The players are set to wear black armbands as a mark of respect for the deceased as they look to start their league campaign on a high, having finished in the ninth position last season.

They will be boosted by their record on the opening day, having lost only once in the last five times they started their campaign, winning three for good measure. They played their first home game of the season against Real in 2014/15, beating them 4-2, which incidentally was their only win against the European Champions in their last 18 meetings.

Meanwhile, Zinedine Zidane's men will come into the fixture with only Gareth Bale as their forward, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema both unavailable through injury. However, the Welshman, coming on the back of a brilliant campaign at the Euros, has a good scoring record against the hosts and Zidane will be hoping that he can get their season rolling from the start.

The visitors come into the game on the back of a brilliant pre-season where they beat Sevilla to win the Super Cup as they look to improve on their opening day performance from last season, when they were held to a goalless draw by Sporting Gijon.

What managers say

Eusebio Sacristán: "They are the reigning European champions and a strong side in all departments. For us, it's always an extra motivation to take on teams of such quality – and we want to get the new season off in the best way possible. I think that last season, what Benitez brought to the team and with everything that Zidane gave them, they have come on leaps and bounds defensively – they are a far more solid team now than other Madrid sides of recent years, and they are just as ruthless in attacks as they have always been."

Zinedine Zidane: "We know that we have to start well and go out strong. We know that the opening stages of a competition are very important. 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."

Betting Odds (betfair)