MADRID, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Champions Real Madrid crashed to an opening day 2-1 defeat at Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday evening.
Real had not won at the Riazor stadium for seventeen years and Deportivo ensured that winless run continued for another year. Mista, making his debut for the home side, almost opened his account in the first minute when he got ahead of Pepe to meet Pablo Alvarez's cross only to see his effort crash off the Real crossbar. An Arjen Robben run ended with some half-hearted Real shouts for a penalty but the referee waved play on. Deportivo took the lead in the 26th minute when Mista again rose unchallenged to head home unconvincingly from six yards out with the Real defence in disarray. Ruud Van Nistelrooy replied for Real just two minutes after the break, poaching an instinctive volley after Raul's deflected shot had looped towards him. Depor restored the lead just two minutes after that when Alberto Lopo steered a header past Iker Casillas from a corner as Pepe was sleeping once again. Real were unable to respond as Bernd Schuster's men turned in a disappointing performance. Promoted Numancia spoiled Pep Guardiola's league debut as Barcelona coach, beating their illustrious opponents 1-0 at home in the Primera Liga on Sunday. The second division champions broke away to score through midfielder Mario early in the first half and Barca wasted a host of chances as they laboured to react. Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi both hit the woodwork but Numancia's rearguard held firm to give their new coach Sergio Kresic a winning start instead. The performance of the day came from Atletico Madrid, who qualified for the Champions League group stage during the week, and stormed to top of the standings with a 4-0 demolition of another newly promoted side, Malaga. Netherlands defender John Heitinga opened the scoring on his league debut and Uruguay striker Diego Forlan added two more before the break, the second from the penalty spot. French striker Florent Sinama Pongolle made it four near the end. Last year's runners-up Villarreal were held to a 1-1 draw away to Osasuna when Marcos Senna's glorious free kick was cancelled out by Iran midfielder Javad Nekounam's penalty. Another touted contender for a top four finish, Sevilla, were also held to a 1-1 draw away to Racing Santander. In the late game, champions Real Madrid kick off the defence of their title away to Deportivo Coruna.
No comments:
Post a Comment