Real Madrid go back to Riazor on August 12 to play in the Teresa Herrera Trophy. The tournament dates to 1946, is organized by the city of A Coruña, and is played at Riazor in mid-August. Deportivo host it every year and have won it 26 times. Real Madrid sit second on that list with nine titles, in 1949, 1953, 1966, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1994 and 2013.
Real Madrid and Deportivo have faced each other 28 times. Depor won eight, Madrid 18, and the other two games were draws.
Madrid spent the better
part of two decades unable to win a league game at Riazor between 1992 and 2009. It finally broke on January 30, 2010. Esteban Granero opened the scoring, Guti backheeled a pass into Karim Benzema’s path for the second, Riki got one back on 86 minutes, and Benzema scored again at the death. Manuel Pellegrini was the coach who ended the streak.
José Mourinho’s last visit to the Riazor was on February 23, 2013 – in the closing months of his first spell. Riki put Deportivo in front, Kaká curled in an equalizer on 73 minutes, and Gonzalo Higuaín got the winner on 88. Mourinho was gone by June and has not been back to A Coruña since.
Deportivo’s best night against Madrid was not in Galicia. On March 6, 2002, the RFEF staged the Copa del Rey final at the Bernabéu as a tribute to Madrid’s centenary, on the date the club was founded. Sergio González scored inside six minutes. Diego Tristán made it two before halftime. Raúl pulled one back on the hour, and nothing else happened. The press called it the Centenariazo.
The days for Super Depor are long gone. But they are back in LaLiga after an extended hiatus. Real Madrid would be eager to utilize the Teresa Herrera Trophy match – building up to their first LaLiga game against Espanyol on August 22.
