Real Madrid

A little less than a month before the start of official competition, Mourinho’s third campaign in charge of Real Madrid will have its season premiere at the Carlos Tartiere Stadium, where the Whites return after a ten year absence. After a week of training and more than ten training sessions in total the moment has arrived for the much anticipated, exciting opening match. The opposition is Real Oviedo, who will battle in Group I of the Second Division B. The meeting also brings back fond memories for Castilla players joining the first team. In the same setting, and only three months ago, the subsidiary team became champions of the Second Division B.

Real Madrid opens the 2012/13 season in Oviedo. They have been waiting 70 days, but this time has been worth it when you consider the excitement that Whites fans have for the new campaign. With a young and ambitious squad, who last season won the best league in history (with 100 points), José Mourinho begins his third season at the helm.

LEAGUE CLASHES BETWEEN THE TWO TEAMS
	J	G	E	P	GF	GC
Real Madrid	76	46	16	14	158	79
Real Oviedo	76	14	16	46	79	158

The Whites, who will visit the Asturian’s home territory ten years after their previous visit, are unbeaten in the 16 friendlies that they have been played since the Portuguese took over the team. The stats are overwhelming: 13 wins, 3 draws, 45 goals scored (2.8 per game) and only 14 against (0.9 per game). The Mexican club, América and Los Angeles Galaxy on two occasions, Hércules, Peñarol at the Santiago Bernabeu Trophy, Chivas de Guadalajara, Philadelphia Union, Hertha Berlin, Leicester City, Guangzhou Evergrande, Tianjin Teda, Galatasaray at the Santiago Bernabeu Trophy and the Kuwaiti national have been the rivals in the matches that were won, while Bayern Munich, Standard Liege and the Murcian regional team are the three teams that have shared the spoils.

Real Oviedo: a historic rival to begin the action
The Whites will measure themselves against a team that are at the same point in their pre-season preparation. Each with a week of training behind them, both Real Madrid and Oviedo will play their season premiere. It will be the first of four opponents that the Asturian’s will face (Urraca Club, Lugones and Zamora are the other three) and the first of six that Real Madrid will come up against (Benfica, L.A. Galaxy, Santos Laguna, Milan and Glasgow Celtic).

Toni Fidalgo, Real Oviedo’s new president: "Real Madrid are giving us a gift by returning to the Carlos Tartiere Stadium"
What he says perfectly encapsulates the significance of the visit of their first pre-season opponent. Oviedo has a history in the First Division. It has played 38 seasons in the top flight and is now facing its fourth consecutive season in the Second Division B. It fought throughout last season to be among the top four and to have the opportunity to play for promotion, but they eventually finished sixth in the group in which the champions were Castilla. This season, they again play in Group I of the third tier and will face Real Madrid C, the second subsidiary of the club.

Felix Sarriugarte, the new coach of Real Oviedo, faces his club debut in charge of the Asturian team with absence of several players due to injury. Xavi Moré and Oscar Martinez Alvaro continue with their recovery plans and will not play. On the contrary Martins, who has recovered from a grade 1 sprain to his left ankle is part of the first list of 22 players made the Basque coach. "Real Madrid are giving us a gift by returning to the Carlos Tartiere Stadium" said Toni Fidalgo recently, the club’s new president.