Madrid - Twin giants Barcelona and Real Madrid will start the 2009/10 league programme with home games, as a result of Friday's calendar draw by the Spanish football federation. Defending champions Barca will kick off against modest Sporting Gijon in the Camp Nou on Monday August 31, three days after facing Shakhtar Donetsk in the European Super Cup showpiece in Monaco.
Real, for their part, will be at home to Deportivo Coruna on Sunday August 30, in what will be the debut of new signings Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema in an official competition.
New Real president Florentino Perez has so far spent around 210 million euros (293 million dollars) in the most profligate spending spree that world football has ever seen - and has still not yet finished spending.
Real will be away to Barca on November 29, and at home to the Catalans on April 12.
The other matches scheduled for the weekend on August 29-30 are as follows: Valencia-Sevilla, Malaga-Atletico Madrid, Mallorca-Xerez, Racing Santander-Getafe, Osasuna-Villarreal, Zaragoza-Tenerife, Athletic Bilbao-Espanyol and Almeria-Valladolid.
