Deportivo La Coruna vs Real Madrid 2017/18 Spanish LaLiga Date: Sunday, 20th August 2017 Kick off at 21:15 UK/ 22:15 CET Venue: Estadio Municipal de Riazor. Real Madrid head to Deportivo La Coruna this weekend as Zinedine Zidane takes charge of his second full season at Los Vikingos, having already won back-to-back Champions League titles and La Liga last term. The league's opening weekend will also provide a chance for La Coruna to cause an upset on home soil, as Pepe Mel's men aim to build on their relegation escape at the back-end of the 2016-17 campaign. Mel's charges come into the new campaign aiming to put some distances between themselves and what has been a testing few years for the Galicia-based club. La Coruna were able to fend off relegation from the Spanish top-flight last season, having finished in 16th place in the league standings. Following a string of troubling showings during the middle of the 2016-17 term, Deportivo were able to showcase the necessary fight towards the end of the campaign, as they produced positive results against the likes of Barcelona, Malaga and Las Palmas in order to push towards safety. Mel will have his work cut out this season, though, given that the club have been rather quiet in the current transfer window, while frontman Joselu has now left following the conclusion of his loan. The club have done one promising piece of business, however, following the acquisition of centre-back Fabian Schar from Hoffenheim. One further option that might please Deportivo fans is the possible return of Lucas Perez, although no deal has been reached with Arsenal for the frontman, who could potentially prove vital should La Coruna want to retain their La Liga status come the end of next spring. The new La Liga season arrives with Madrid finding themselves in much of the same fluent form in which Zidane's charges finished last term. Since the club's memorable Champions League win over Juventus, Real have gone on to claim both the UEFA Super Cup and Supercopa de Espana with consummate ease. Madrid's return to dominance in Spain has come partly as a result of Zidane's stewardship, and the French coach now enters only his second full season in charge having already won two Champions League titles in a row, as well as leading the club to La Liga glory just a couple of months ago. Much of Zidane's success has been built on a trusting relationship with his players, especially Cristiano Ronaldo, and that partnership with his charges has seen the Frenchman assemble a squad that now includes a number of experienced veterans alongside a crop of youngsters who are playing with enough confidence to shine. The summer departures of both Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez might have caused issues for other coaches, although Zidane has already shown enough faith in the likes of Marco Asensio and Casemiro to suggest that Real have the necessary talent within their own ranks without having to dip too much into the summer market. Madrid make the trip to Deportivo with the confidence of nine away wins on the bounce in the league, while also knowing that their past nine fixtures against Deportivo have all ended in victories. The obvious challenge for Zidane heading into La Liga's opening weekend will be the one facing Ronaldo, who will be serving the start of his five-match ban after pushing an official during the club's recent first-leg win over Barcelona in the Supercopa. http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/footbal...eportivo-la-coruna-vs-real-madrid_305139.html
It's not about the timezone, you missed the date. It's not 19th, it's 20th. It's also not 16:15 CET but 21:15 CET.
Starting game threads in RMBS is a form of art. Next crap thread he makes mods should give him a yellow .
I'm eager to see how this goes. We had a good run in the cup games, but I'm still not totally convinced about our goal scoring. We dominated a lot of those games without much end product at times. We were fairly reliant on wonder strikes from distance and I don't think we can consistently count on those. Hopefully Benz and Bale step up their movement around the box.
Ah come on guys. We defended the Champions League for the first time in the history. I'm calling a good Benzema performance tonight.