Ruud van Nistelrooy's strike was not enough to earn Real
Madrid a point
Barcelona and Real Madrid both suffered surprise defeats
on the opening weekend of the Primera Liga season.
Pep Guardiola's team dominated for long periods at
newly-promoted Numancia but were undone by a defensive lapse after
just 12 minutes, when Mario was left unmarked in the area and fired
home what turned out to be the winner.
Madrid's 2-1 loss at Deportivo La Coruna was not so unexpected
with the Spanish champions now without a league win at the Riazor
since the 1992/93 season.
Alberto Lopo bagged the winner for the Galicians early in the
second half, shortly after Ruud van Nistelrooy had cancelled out
Mista's first-half strike.
There were no such worries for city rivals Atletico Madrid, who
thrashed sorry Malaga 4-0 at the Vicente Calderon.
Getafe left it late but ultimately got Victor Munoz's reign off
to a winning start with a 2-1 triumph at newly-promoted Sporting
Gijon.
Almeria also began life under a new coach - Gonzalo Arconada -
with an impressive victory, 3-1 at Athletic Bilbao.
Elsewhere, Marco Ruben scored the only goal of the game in the
36th minute as Recreativo Huelva prevailed 1-0 at Real Betis.
The other two matches in Spain on Sunday finished in 1-1
draws.
Racing Santander missed a penalty through Ezequiel Garay but
came back to earn a point against Sevilla when Juanjo cancelled out
Luis Fabiano's opener.
Osasuna came from a goal down to snatch a deserved point against
Villarreal in a bad-tempered game, which saw both sides finish with
ten men.