Spain
R.F.E.F. Primera Division
Grupo 1
Sunday 26th November 2023
Kick Off 20.00 Actual 20.01
Real Club Deportivo La Coruna 1 Club Atletico Osasuna ‘B’ 1, attendance 16,637
22’ 0-1
36’ 1-1
@ Estadio de Riazor
Rua Manuel Murguia
15011 A Coruna
€20 Admission
No Programme.
The 21 mile drive from Carballo took 26 minutes and saw us parked up on the hard shoulder (they don’t seem to bother about such things over there!) of the V-14 dual carriageway by about 19.23. Once parked, it was a very brisk walk of just over 15 minutes, thankfully downhill, to the stadium. We knew the ticket office was at the far side of the stadium from where we arrived, but it was good to see two ticket windows open and only a couple of people in front of us. Again, no problem buying them without any identification documents and we were given a choice of prices, ranging from €20-€100. We opted for the cheapest, in the corner of the top tier and even better, the entrance was only about 30 yards away! Climbing what seemed like endless stairs, saw time to buy a drink before entering our seats at 19.58 and seconds later the light show began and the teams emerged. We’d made it and a minute after the scheduled kick off time, we were underway. Apparently, we were in the ‘away’ section (one of our party sat in the same area when seeing Arsenal here twice in European competitions) although it was full of home supporters tonight.
Although Deportivo La Coruna are now playing in the third level of Spanish football, they were one of the top teams not only in Spain, but Europe as well, not too long ago. Their peak was from the mid 1990s to mid 2000’s playing five successive seasons in the U.E.F.A. Champions League from 2001-2005, making two quarter finals and one semi-final. They had won La Liga in 2000 and the Copa del Rey in 1995 and again in 2002 as well as the Spanish Super Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2002. in They were relegated from the top flight in 2011 and having been promoted, were relegated once again in 2013. Another promotion to La Liga was followed by yet another relegation in 2018 and they then fell to the third tier and only avoided relegation down to tier four in 2021 due to a reorganisation of the Spanish pyramid.
The club was formed in 1906 and have played at the Estadio do Riazor since 1944. It has an all seated capacity on 34,611, set out in two continuous levels and it creates a great atmosphere, despite it having only been half full tonight. We never noticed any away fans, but hardly surprising, as it was a B team, but the ‘Depor’ crowd certainly got behind their team, although they did start to get on their backs late on, as they ran out of ideas, ending the game frantically hitting long balls into the box hoping to produce something out of nothing. Osasuna had taken the lead midway through the first half, after a long range shot was saved by the ‘keeper but followed in by Andre Yoldi, who scored from 6 yards out. Depor levelled nine minutes before the break, when the ball was chipped to the far post and headed in off the upright by Diego Villares.
The game finished at 21.52 and after a much more leisurely walk back to the car, despite it being uphill, we then drove 20 minutes southeast to our overnight hotel in Bergondo. The following morning we made the 2 hour 53 minute (gaining back an hour as we crossed back into Portugal) drive back south to Porto for our 1235 EasyJet flight to London Gatwick, which departed 28 minutes late.
So, another successful trip to Iberia was complete. We’d done all six of our intended matches, three in each country, with the total distance covered coming up just short of 600 miles.
