Defiant Deportivo Stun Madrid

Mista nodded the home team in front at the stadium where Los Merengues traditionally struggle and Alberto Lopo nodded in a winner after Ruud van Nistelrooy had levelled for the visitors.

In a week that has seen the Robinho saga reach new heights after the player stated publicly that he wanted to leave and join Chelsea, Madrid were unable to earn themselves some good press by chalking up a morale-boosting win.

Instead they will see more questions being asked about what is going on at the club after losing to a Deportivo side that looked refreshed and determined to make an impression at the start of the new campaign.

Having spent the early part of the summer focussed on prising Cristiano Ronaldo away from Manchester United without success, Madrid required some good news with recent reports suggesting that they were becoming desperate in the search for new signings.

David Villa and Santi Cazorla have both said no and now Robinho has caused even more uproar by making his disillusionment at the club clear only weeks after claiming that he wanted to stay and help the club win many trophies.

A convincing performance and a win were required to stop any critics from voicing their opinions, but Madrid could be in for a tough week after they were beaten in Galicia by a Depor side that look set to put the last few seasons behind them.

Miguel Ángel Lotina's players qualified for the UEFA Cup while the majority of teams were playing pre-season friendlies and it clearly did them not harm as they looked fresh and competitive in front of an enthsuiastic home crowd.

It has been several seasons since there has been much for the Depor fans to truly shout about after their slide from grace has seen them flirt with relegation more often than they have been close to the top four.

But throughout all that time, the team have still managed to maintain their form and receive an annual boost when Madrid visit and this year was no different.

Madrid did not play badly, but they were missing that spark which they have spent the last few weeks looking to sign and only Arjen Robben offerd any serious pace going forward early on.

In the opening two minutes however, Deportivo gave an indication of what they coulkd do when Mista met Pablo Álvarez's low cross and lifted the ball up and on to Iker Casillas' crossbar.

Moments later Robben set off on a mazy run which ended with him going down in the area and being accused of looking for a penalty by the unimpressed home team's defenders.

Having played in Split against Hajduk in midweek, Depor could have bene forgiven for having tired legs, but there was no signs of fatigue as they closed down well and hassled Madrid throughout.

In the 27th minute the breakthrough came when Andrés Guardado picked up a short corner and his cross picked out Mista who was then able to head the ball downward in to the corner of the net.

Casillas remained stationary in a game where he did not look to be at his best, while Gabriel Heinze clearly stepped away from the scorer just before the centre came over.

Before the break Madrid did have chances with the first seeing Daniel Aranzubia save from Robben with his legs before Marcelo almost scored from distance when his cross-cum-shot clipped the top of the bar.

Whatever Bernd Schuster said at the break had the desired effect as his side drew level within two minutes of the restart when Van Nistelrooy struck a first time effort past Aranzubia.

The home side could well have opted to sat back and try and stay calm with Madrid looking set to take the upper hand, but nothing was further from Deportivo players' minds.

Instead, in the 52nd minute a corner once again exposed Madrid's defensive frailties in the air as Lopo rose unmarked to flick the ball into the far corner of the net.

That may have been the end of the scoring, but it was not the end of the chances with Mahamadou Diarrá testing Aranzbuia but that was the best chance the Madrid could produce as they went in search of an equaliser.

There was some concerns for Depor when substitute Riki pulled up clutching the back of his leg before stretchered off with what appeared to be a serious hamstring injury.

But that will not spoil what was a great start to the season for the hosts, while Madrid will have to regroup before they play again in two weeks and hope that they can start winning headlines for the right reasons soon.