Deportivo bring Sevilla back down to earth

Sevilla’s ecstasy at beating Real Madrid was short-lived as the title hopefuls came crashing back down to earth with a 1-0 loss at Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.

Sevilla thought they had underlined their title credentials with a superb 2-1 win over Real but saw a run of five straight wins come to an end with Juan Rodriguez’s fantastic strike clinching the win for Depor.

It was sweet revenge for Depor who lost four times against Sevilla last season, twice in the league and twice in the King’s Cup, and La Coruna’s fourth consecutive win sees them stay fourth and move level on points with Sevilla.

Visitors Sevilla started on the front foot with Renato spurning an early chance when he failed to control a difficult volley.

Depor absorbed the pressure and scored with their first shot on target with 38 minutes gone after Sevilla failed to clear their lines.

Rodriguez showed good control before thumping in a shot off the post for a memorable first goal of the season.

The goal lifted Depor, who almost went 2-0 up with Mexican Jose Guardado’s shot fizzing just over and Sevilla goalkeeper Javi Varas called on to make a great refex save.

Depor had won their last three matches without conceding a goal so Sevilla were up against it and could not offer much of an attacking threat.

Renato had the best chance to equalise in the 84th minute but chose to try and set up Frederic Kanoute when he would have been better going for goal himself.

Sevilla now travel to Stuttgart on Tuesday for their next Champions League group match having won at Rangers in their last game in the competition.

Real Madrid will aim to bounce back from the Sevilla defeat against Valladolid at the Santiago Bernabeu later on Saturday.

Real were heavily criticised for the loss in Seville when the 2-1 score-line failed to reflect their abject display but coach Manuel Pellegrini said the new-look ‘Galacticos’ were heading in the right direction.

“Before the Sevilla defeat we were winning games comfortably and I don?t think we are far from where we want to be,” said the Chilean tactician.

“The fans want us to score goals and we are doing that.”

Real have had two weeks to stomach that defeat but the international break saw Cristiano Ronaldo aggravate his ankle injury and the Portuguese international will again be missing.

Brazilian Kaka and Argentine Gonzalo Higuain could also be rested as they recover from jet-lag after long journeys to represent their respective national teams.

Leaders Barcelona go in search of a seventh successive win later at Valencia, which would represent their best ever start to a league campaign.

Historically Valencia?s Mestalla Stadium has not been a happy hunting ground for Barca and they struggled to a 2-2 draw last season.

“We can?t deny that Valencia?s ground is one of the most dangerous,” said Barca coach Pep Guardiola. “Last season we didn?t manage to win there and they caused us a lot of problems.”

Valencia are down in fifth and coach Unai Emery has to decide whether to risk star striker David Villa, who has been recovering from a thigh injury.