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The La Liga season has finally returned in all its glory. After running away with the league title last season, Real Madrid won’t be hesitant to defend their former honor.
During the preseason, Real Madrid worried fans. They struggled to sign any massive names and they suffered losses in friendly play. Thankfully, these worries quickly vanished as Madrid conquered rivals FC Barcelona in the Supercopa, 5-1 on aggregate – without Ronaldo, I might add.
No massive signings, no preseason wins, no problem.
With Madrid sitting high on their horse once again, they will hope to add another trophy to their loaded cabinet with this 2017/18 season. Standing in their way is none other than the 19 other La Liga teams. The first of the bunch to square up against Madrid will be Deportivo La Coruna.
In recent years, Deportivo hasn’t been a contender. Last season, they finished 16th, only five points above the relegation zone. Their -18-goal differential was one of the better stats compared to the bottom half of the table, which suggests that their defense was solid – for being a bottom half team.
Deportivo addressed their defensive problem by signing Fabian Schar from Hoffenheim. Schar is praised as one of Switzerland’s best defenders, which is backed up by his 27 international caps and 7 goals.
Much like their defense, their offense was average. Coruna scored 43 goals in total. 12 of which were scored by striker Florin Andone. Andone had a productive season in his first year with Deportivo but he may need more assistance up top if they hope to make a larger dent in the table.
Deportivo attempted to fill that slot by signing Real Madrid Castilla product Fede Valverde, who joined the club on a season-long loan. Valverde is not known to score goals but his presence in the midfield may provide Castilla with the help they need. However, it is unlikely that he’ll make an immediate impact with the club so Madrid fans shouldn’t hope to see their youth product make an appearance.
As Deportivo sort out their mess, Madrid is sitting happily with a healthy squad. Their only complaint is Ronaldo’s current 5 game ban. Apart from that, Madrid should enter this match hyped and excited. They’ll likely win this game easily with little to no effort.
Projected starting XI:
Real Madrid: Keylor Navas; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo; Modric, Kroos, Isco; Bale, Asensio, Benzema
Deportivo de La Coruna: Ruben; Fabian Schar, Juanfran, Sidnei; Cartabia, Guilherme, Borges, Mosquera, Luisinho, Gama; Andone
How to watch
Date: 08/20/2017
Time: 22:15 CET, 04:15pm EST, 01:15 pm Pacific.
Venue: Riazor, La Coruña, Spain.
Available TV: BeIN Sports (USA), Sky Sports Football (UK), BeIN La Liga (Spain).
Available Streaming: BeIN Sports (USA), Fubo.TV (EVERY Real Madrid game with a high-quality and legal stream, click here to sign up and benefit from a summer discount for new members and Managing Madrid readers).
Prediction: Deportivo 0-2 Real Madrid (Marco Asensio 1x, Karim Benzema 1x)