Ainhoa Marín celebrates her goal with the Basque side. Photo: Real Sociedad.

Maren and Ainhoa Marín strike first in opening leg

Real Sociedad defeated Fenerbahçe 2-0 in the first leg of their Europa Cup round of 16 tie. Goals from Maren Lezeta and Ainhoa Marín secured the victory for Real Sociedad, who now hold an advantage going into the second leg. Additionally, María Alves was sent off with a straight red card late in the match.

28 OCT 2026

The two clubs observed an emotional minute's silence for the victims of the train accident in Urda (Toledo). Fenerbahçe tried to create dangerous chances during the opening stages of the match. The visitors had some forays towards Julia Arrula's goal, but the goalkeeper and the defence from San Sebastián remained solid. Indeed, the shot-stopper made a superb save to deny Stašková in a one-on-one. As the minutes passed, the game became more even, and Nerea Eizagirre tested the visiting goalkeeper with a powerful shot. Half-time arrived with the score at 0-0. After the break, everything changed, and the team from San Sebastián pushed forward in search of the coveted first goal.

A good run by Ainhoa Marín came close to resulting in a goal, but it was Maren Lezeta, making her first start of the season, who headed home a corner from Nerea Eizagirre to break the deadlock. Ainhoa Campo, Nahia Aparicio, and Cecilia Marcos were the first substitutions for Real Sociedad. And, crucially, the winger took just one minute to deliver a cut-back for Ainhoa Marín to simply tap into the back of the net to extend the lead. The third goal was on the cards for Cecilia Marcos, but her shot went wide. Furthermore, María Alves was sent off. The final substitutions were Sonya Keefe and Ava Seelenfreund to round off a match that will be decided on Wednesday, November 11th, at 18:00h in Istanbul.