# Real Sociedad in European football

Real Sociedad is a football club from San Sebastián, Basque Country. They have entered European competitions representing Spain's La Liga on 20 occasions.

## Summary

The club have never appeared in a European final. Their best performance was in the 1982–83 European Cup when they reached the semi-finals, losing narrowly to eventual winners Hamburger SV.
La Real have thrice competed in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. In 2003–04, they qualified directly as runners-up in the previous season's domestic league, and progressed from the group before being beaten by Lyon in the first knockout round. Ten years later, in 2013–14 – having played no other European football and spent three years in the second division in the interim – they were again paired with Lyon, this time in the playoff round, and gained revenge by eliminating them, but subsequently finished bottom of the section. They returned to the competition after a decade in 2023–24, and progressed past the group stage for the second time.
In 2017, the club competed in the UEFA Europa League groups for the first time after gaining entry directly to that stage, having fallen in the last qualification round three years earlier.
In 2020, La Real appeared to be heading out of the competition at the group stage in the 90th minute of the last matchday, before a goal in stoppage time against SSC Napoli earned them a point, while a goal at almost the same moment in the other fixture meant defeat and elimination for AZ Alkmaar who had been set to go through.

## Overall record

    Accurate as of 13 March 2025
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win% |
| European Cup / Champions League (5) | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 32 | 35 | −3 | 032.35 |
| UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 025.00 |
| UEFA Cup / Europa League (14) | 82 | 37 | 19 | 26 | 118 | 106 | +12 | 045.12 |
| Total | 120 | 49 | 31 | 40 | 153 | 142 | +11 | 040.83 |
Source: UEFA.com Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference.

## Results
### Matches

| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate |
| 1974–75 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Baník Ostrava | 0–1 | 0–4 | 0–5 |
| 1975–76 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Grasshopper | 1–1 | 3–3 | 4–4 |
| 1975–76 | UEFA Cup | 2R | Liverpool | 1–3 | 0–6 | 1–9 |
| 1979–80 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Internazionale | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 |
| 1980–81 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Újpest | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| 1980–81 | UEFA Cup | 2R | Zbrojovka Brno | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| 1980–81 | UEFA Cup | 3R | Lokeren | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 |
| 1981–82 | European Cup | 1R | CSKA Sofia | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| 1982–83 | European Cup | 1R | Víkingur Reykjavík | 3–2 | 1–0 | 4–2 |
| 1982–83 | European Cup | 2R | Celtic | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 |
| 1982–83 | European Cup | QF | Sporting CP | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| 1982–83 | European Cup | SF | Hamburger SV | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 |
| 1987–88 | Cup Winner's Cup | 1R | Śląsk Wrocław | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| 1987–88 | Cup Winner's Cup | 2R | Dinamo Minsk | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| 1988–89 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Dukla Prague | 2–1 | 2–3 | 4–4 |
| 1988–89 | UEFA Cup | 2R | Sporting CP | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| 1988–89 | UEFA Cup | 3R | 1. FC Köln | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 |
| 1988–89 | UEFA Cup | QF | VfB Stuttgart | 1–0 | 0–1 (a.e.t.) | 1–1 (2–4 p) |
| 1990–91 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Lausanne Sports | 1–0 | 2–3 | 3–3 |
| 1990–91 | UEFA Cup | 2R | Partizan | 1–0 | 0–1 (a.e.t.) | 1–1 (3–4 p) |
| 1992–93 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Vitória de Guimarães | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 |
| 1998–99 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Sparta Prague | 1–0 | 4–2 | 5–2 |
| 1998–99 | UEFA Cup | 2R | Dynamo Moscow | 3–0 | 3–2 | 6–2 |
| 1998–99 | UEFA Cup | 3R | Atlético Madrid | 2–1 | 1–4 | 3–5 |
| 2003–04 | Champions League | Group D | Juventus | 0–0 | 2–4 | 2nd |
| 2003–04 | Champions League | Group D | Galatasaray | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2nd |
| 2003–04 | Champions League | Group D | Olympiacos | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2nd |
| 2003–04 | Champions League | Round of 16 | Lyon | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| 2013–14 | Champions League | PO | Lyon | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| 2013–14 | Champions League | Group A | Manchester United | 0–0 | 0–1 | 4th |
| 2013–14 | Champions League | Group A | Bayer Leverkusen | 0–1 | 1–2 | 4th |
| 2013–14 | Champions League | Group A | Shakhtar Donetsk | 0–2 | 0–4 | 4th |
| 2014–15 | Europa League | 3Q | Aberdeen | 2–0 | 3–2 | 5–2 |
| 2014–15 | Europa League | PO | Krasnodar | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 |
| 2017–18 | Europa League | Group L | Zenit Saint Petersburg | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2nd |
| 2017–18 | Europa League | Group L | Rosenborg | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2nd |
| 2017–18 | Europa League | Group L | Vardar | 6–0 | 3–0 | 2nd |
| 2017–18 | Europa League | Round of 32 | Red Bull Salzburg | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–4 |
| 2020–21 | Europa League | Group F | Napoli | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2nd |
| 2020–21 | Europa League | Group F | AZ | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2nd |
| 2020–21 | Europa League | Group F | Rijeka | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2nd |
| 2020–21 | Europa League | Round of 32 | Manchester United | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–4 |
| 2021–22 | Europa League | Group B | Monaco | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2nd |
| 2021–22 | Europa League | Group B | PSV Eindhoven | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2nd |
| 2021–22 | Europa League | Group B | Sturm Graz | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2nd |
| 2021–22 | Europa League | Knockout play-offs | RB Leipzig | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–5 |
| 2022–23 | Europa League | Group E | Manchester United | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1st |
| 2022–23 | Europa League | Group E | Omonia | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1st |
| 2022–23 | Europa League | Group E | Sheriff Tiraspol | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1st |
| 2022–23 | Europa League | Round of 16 | Roma | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| 2023–24 | Champions League | Group D | Internazionale | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1st |
| 2023–24 | Champions League | Group D | Red Bull Salzburg | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1st |
| 2023–24 | Champions League | Group D | Benfica | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1st |
| 2023–24 | Champions League | Round of 16 | Paris Saint-Germain | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–4 |
| 2024–25 | Europa League | League phase | Nice | — | 1–1 | 13th |
| 2024–25 | Europa League | League phase | Anderlecht | 1–2 | — | 13th |
| 2024–25 | Europa League | League phase | Maccabi Tel Aviv | — | 2–1 | 13th |
| 2024–25 | Europa League | League phase | Viktoria Plzeň | — | 1–2 | 13th |
| 2024–25 | Europa League | League phase | Ajax | 2–0 | — | 13th |
| 2024–25 | Europa League | League phase | Dynamo Kyiv | 3–0 | — | 13th |
| 2024–25 | Europa League | League phase | Lazio | — | 1–3 | 13th |
| 2024–25 | Europa League | League phase | PAOK | 2–0 | — | 13th |
| 2024–25 | Europa League | Knockout play-offs | Midtjylland | 5–2 | 2–1 | 7–3 |
| 2024–25 | Europa League | Round of 16 | Manchester United | 1–1 | 1–4 | 2–5 |