Real Madrid Open Their Season With a Mbappé Hat-Trick, Breaking Real Sociedad's Resistance at the Bernabéu
By: Dr. Talal Othman, General Manager GCC Sport
Real Madrid's emphatic 4-1 win over Real Sociedad, in the opening round of the 2026-27 La Liga season, was never going to be just another lopsided scoreline added to the Royal club's record. It was an early message that Álvaro Arbeloa, the club's new head coach, wanted to send to the league's contenders before the season's first month was even out: that Real Madrid, in the era after Xabi Alonso, still wields the same weapon that has decided countless titles — and its name is Kylian Mbappé.
The Frenchman opened his season with a full hat-trick, scored in the 40th, 60th, and 80th minutes, and did more than simply prove his fitness and sharpness early in the campaign he delivered a lesson in positioning and reading the decisive moment. His goals were spread across the match's three critical junctures: breaking the deadlock just before halftime, restoring the lead past the hour mark, and finally sealing the result in the closing minutes with a knockout blow that ended any hope the visitors from San Sebastián had left.
Yet the road to this victory was not as smooth as the final score suggests. After the Merengues went ahead through Mbappé's opening goal in the 40th minute, the crowd at the Santiago Bernabéu was jolted by a swift response from Real Sociedad, who equalized just four minutes later through Luka Sučić a moment that exposed fragility in the home side's back line and raised the possibility of the evening slipping into a different script. Those closing minutes before the break served as an early test of the new-look side's resilience in the face of setbacks, a test from which Real Madrid emerged with the best possible answer.
The second half brought an entirely different version of the Royal club: a return to dominance, and mounting pressure that produced Vinícius Júnior's goal in the 68th minute, restoring the team's psychological balance before Mbappé completed his mission with two further goals that snuffed out any lingering ambition the visitors had of fighting back. Four goals, three of them from a single player a message as tactical as it is psychological: a team that has Mbappé performing at this level does not need defensive perfection to settle its matches.
On the other side, Real Sociedad leave this defeat carrying mixed signals: Sučić's early goal proved the Basque side has the tools to catch the league's giants off guard, but the inability to hold firm after equalizing brings back old questions about defensive stability and the capacity to manage decisive moments away from Anoeta.
Between the two sides, the clearest picture to emerge from this opening round is that a Real Madrid searching to restore its domestic authority after a turbulent season that ended with Alonso's departure has found, in its collective performance and in Mbappé specifically, a foundation to build on. A hat-trick this emphatic in the first official test of the season is not merely a statistic it is a statement of intent for a campaign in which the Royal club wants nothing less than to reclaim its vacant throne.
