Dépor vs Real Madrid: Trofeo Teresa Herrera Preview
Deportivo’s night back under the big lights comes with a familiar guest. Real Madrid return to the Abanca-Riazor on Wednesday for the 81st Trofeo Teresa Herrera, their first appearance in the historic tournament since 2013, as Dépor mark their long-awaited return to La Liga after eight years away.
It feels like more than a friendly. It feels like a reintroduction.
Dépor’s revival, built on steel
Antonio Hidalgo brings a side that has quietly put together an impressive summer. Six games, no defeats. Wins over Compostela, Lugo and Genoa, draws with Oviedo, St. Pauli and Fiorentina. Kevin Sánchez’s late strike at the Luigi Ferraris didn’t just seal the Trofeo Spagnolo; it underlined a pattern. This team knows how to stay in games and finish them.
There has been investment to match the ambition. Close to €30m spent, with Leo Román arriving to take the gloves and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang installed as the marquee name up front. Experience, goals, personality – exactly what a promoted club wants to plant at the tip of its project.
Yet the Italian tour also revealed a flaw. Crosses into the box caused problems, the back line losing its bearings too often when the ball was swung in from wide. Against Madrid, with Vinícius Júnior and Endrick threatening from the flanks and half-spaces, that weakness could be brutally exposed.
Hidalgo’s staff are still managing Yeremay Hernández carefully, his ongoing issue handled by the physio team. With one of their brightest attacking sparks not yet at full tilt, Dépor’s approach has leaned on structure and discipline. It shows in the numbers: just three goals conceded all summer.
Four of their six pre-season matches have finished with three goals or fewer. A 4-0 statement against Compostela, a 0-0 stalemate with Oviedo, and a narrow 1-0 win over Lugo opened the campaign. Then came a solid 1-1 draw with Fiorentina and that tight 1-0 over Genoa. This is a side that prefers control to chaos.
Mourinho’s Madrid: still under construction
On the other bench, José Mourinho is only just beginning to shape his new Madrid. The first pre-season win finally arrived with a 2-1 victory away to Ferencváros, but even that came with a familiar warning: they still concede. Before Budapest, they had thrown away a 2-0 lead against Fiorentina.
The pattern is clear. Madrid score. Madrid also give you a chance.
The squad is nowhere near full power yet. Kylian Mbappé, Aurelien Tchouaméni, Marc Cucurella and Ibrahim Konaté only returned to training on Monday after extended post-World Cup breaks. Jude Bellingham is still to come back. Militão, Rodrygo, Mendy and Asensio remain sidelined.
So this is a Madrid caught between eras: the Galáctico core easing its way back, the academy and newer faces carrying the load.
Mourinho’s likely XI reflects that balance. Lunin in goal, Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right, youngsters like Huijsen and Joan Martínez in central defence, Carreras on the left. In midfield, the energy and quality of Valverde and Camavinga with Arda Güler pulling strings ahead of them. Bernardo Silva offers guile between the lines, while Vinícius Júnior and Endrick bring speed and incision up front.
It’s a team good enough to dominate the ball and create chances. It’s also a team that looks vulnerable if forced to defend its own box for long spells, especially with a makeshift centre-back pairing and Militão still unavailable.
Tight margins at the Riazor
All signs point to a game that breathes but doesn’t explode.
Dépor’s defensive record this summer, combined with Madrid’s early pre-season rhythm, puts real value on a low-scoring contest. With Yeremay still being eased back and Hidalgo unlikely to abandon the compact structure that has served him so well, a wide-open shootout feels unlikely.
Under 3.5 goals looks a strong play. Four of Dépor’s six friendlies have stayed within that mark, and Madrid, still building fitness and cohesion, are not yet in the kind of ruthless, free-scoring mood that blows opponents away for 90 minutes.
At the same time, Dépor are not shy in front of goal. They have scored in five of their six outings, only failing to find the net in that 0-0 draw at Oviedo. Aubameyang’s presence gives them a focal point, and with Mario Soriano and Luismi Cruz buzzing around him, they have enough to trouble an experimental Madrid back line.
Madrid, for their part, have conceded in all three of their public matches. Piccoli and Kean dragged Fiorentina back from 2-0 down, while Ferencváros also found a way through in Budapest. With academy defenders and recent returnees still shaking off rust, a clean sheet feels a stretch.
So the balance tilts towards a familiar outcome: Madrid’s quality in the final third deciding the contest, but Dépor landing a punch of their own. Real Madrid to win and both teams to score fits the evidence.
Fast starters, fragile finishers
One thing Mourinho’s side have already shown: they come out swinging.
They’ve led at half-time in their last two friendlies. Against Fiorentina, they were 2-0 up inside 24 minutes through Endrick and Alexis Ciria and went into the break 2-1 ahead. In Budapest, Mario Rivas struck in the 41st minute before Carlos Espí added a second in the eventual 2-1 win.
That early intensity should surface again in A Coruña. With Mbappé, Tchouaméni, Cucurella and Konaté only just back in training, the fit squad players know this is their window to impress. Expect them to press high, move the ball quickly and try to put the tie to bed before the stars drift off the bench.
Madrid to lead at half-time and hold on feels in keeping with their pre-season script: strong starts, slightly ragged finishes, but enough edge to see it through.
Predicted score and key names
Everything about the matchup suggests a competitive, measured game rather than a festival of goals. Dépor’s organisation, Madrid’s patchwork defence, and the stage of pre-season both clubs are in all point the same way.
Score prediction: Deportivo 1-2 Real Madrid.
For the hosts, Aubameyang stands out as the most likely scorer, the man to punish any lapse from Madrid’s young back line. For the visitors, Vinícius Júnior and Endrick carry the sharpest threat, their movement and pace tailor-made to attack Dépor’s vulnerability to balls into and around the box.
The Riazor will be full, the occasion rich, the symbolism obvious: a fallen giant back in La Liga, measuring itself against the standard-bearer. Madrid’s depth and attacking talent should still tilt the trophy their way.
What will matter more to Dépor is whether this night confirms they can live again at this level – not just as hosts of a gala, but as permanent fixtures back among Spain’s elite.
