All four newly promoted teams had good starts. Numancia beat Valladolid 1-0 in their first ever match in the primera liga, with youngster Ruben Navarro, on loan from Valencia, scoring the only goal late in the first half after a bad back pass by the Valladolid defence. New manager Goikoetxea has completely changed the side, bringing in no less than 19 new players on a shoe-string budget. It remains to be seen whether the new signings are any better than the old ones, but for now they are on a high. Valladolid have to ask themselves some serious questions however. Manzano left out keeper César after his recent dealings with Madrid, but he should be back in the side next week. Much will depend on the Real Madrid cast-offs, Congo and Rodrigo, and on Peternac, who missed the game through injury and who has been linked with other clubs recently. Caminero was once again sent off for a bad foul shortly after coming on as substitute.

Rayo Vallecano had the best result of the day, surprisingly beating city rivals Atlético Madrid 0-2. Atlético manager Ranieri had to choose between two international goalkeepers, Toni and Molina, and opted for new signing Toni. The keeper however was at least partially at fault for both goals, firstly failing to reach a cross which Hernández headed in, and then only blocking Bolo's shot which he should have caught, allowing Ferrón to nip in to score. There was however no spark from Atlético, and they must be hoping for Hugo Leal's transfer to come through next week. With Kiko still injured and with Juninho not entering in Ranieri's plans, they need something. Contrary to Numancia's policy, Rayo have opted more or less for the same block who won them promotion, and should at least get good results at the start of the season with a squad that knows each other. Manager Juande Ramos also had a goal-keeping choice to make, finally choosing new signing US international Kasey Keller ahead of ex Barça and Spain keeper Julen Lopetegui.