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Come Fan with UsWednesday, August 5, 2026

La Liga, Week 8: Real Sociedad are following the path of Icarus

After reaching such amazing heights last season, things have gone horribly wrong for Real Sociedad who now find themselves one point from the relegation zone.

As Week 8 in La Liga comes to a close -- hooray no Monday night games for once, thanks international break! -- things remain much the same as they were when the match week started at the top. The most interesting story though centers around Real Sociedad and their continued struggles.

The story goes that Icarus, son of the master craftsman Daedalus, attempted to fly away from Crete using the wings constructed by his father. The wings were made of feathers and wax and Daedalus had instructed Icarus not to fly to close to sun or else the max would melt. Ignoring those instructions, Icarus flew to close to the sun which cause the wax to melt, the wings to fail, sending him tumbling into the sea where he drowned.

Real Sociedad are clearly the Icarus of La Liga having flown to close to the sun last season with their fourth place finish and Champions League qualification. The wax of their wings melt sending them tumbling into the sea where they are in the process of drowning and it very well could cost Jagoba Arrasate his job sooner, rather than later.

La Real have won only won match in the league this season and find themselves in 15th place, one point clear of the drop zone. A truly frightening fall indeed, but there is still time to recover.

Despite a valiant effort from Levante, Real Madrid finally decided to start playing in the final five minutes and pulled off a Houdini-esque escape. Despite 45 minutes of tough play from Real Valladolid, Barcelona wore them down in the second half and won going away. Atlético Madrid won too and while none of this should be a surprise, the tantalizing hope of things getting shook up a bit evaporated like morning fog, leaving us with the status quo preserved.

A little farther down the table Espanyol's sudden collapse of form continued with a loss against Elche, rocketing the promoted side up to 11th place with the second win of the season.

Here are all the results from Week 8:

Malaga 0-1 Osasuna

Elche 2-1 Espanyol

Rayo Vallecano 1-0 Real Sociedad

Levante 2-3 Real Madrid

Barcelona 4-1 Real Valladolid

Atletico Madrid 2-1 Celta Vigo

Sevilla 2-1 Almeria

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