Goliath, fear David

are we expecting the unexpected ???

REAL SUFFER AGAINST NEWBIES PLAYING AWAY

Eibar lie in wait for Real Madrid. Something not seen so for a long time in la Liga: a team making their debut in Spain's top flight, a new stadium to conquer for 'Los Blancos', who have only set foot on this turf in a Cup game two decades ago (1-1, with goals from Cuevas and Guti). On paper, it may look like a breeze for the Madrilenians, but history knows otherwise. Their results when visiting Division One debutantes are nothing to shout about.

As we can see from their figures, Real Madrid have a hard time figuring out how to handle these unknown quantities: three defeats, five draws and just three victories over the last 24 years.

Real did manage to win in their last visit to a newbie stadium. This was against Xerez with Pellegrini at the helm. 'Los Blancos' cruised to an easy victory at the Chapín stadium, coming out the 3-0 winners thanks to a goal from Arbeloa and a brace from Cristiano, who was just starting to make his mark at the club.

Before that, things were not so good. UD Almería sent Schuster's team home with their tails between their legs in the 07/08 season and Getafe did the same in 04/05. Ironically, it was Negredo and Albiol that gave their teams their victories - both players being signed by a duly impressed Real Madrid shortly afterwards.

Ipurua has the ability to suffocate Real. It is a stadium much like Los Pajaritos and the Francisco de la Hera - cages that left the Madrid team without seeing the back of the net even once on their first visit. The Goliath of the Spanish first division would do well to be wary of the young, recently-arrived David.

Here are Real Madrid's away results against teams making their debut in the First Division over the past 24 years:

90/91
Real Burgos 2-1 Real Madrid

91/92
Albacete 1-3 Real Madrid

94/95
Compostela 1-1 Real Madrid

95/96
Mérida 2-2 Real Madrid

96/97
Extremadura 0-0 Real Madrid

98/99
Villarreal 0-2 Real Madrid

99/00
Numancia 0-0 Real Madrid

99/00
Málaga C.F. 1-1 Real Madrid

04/05
Getafe 2-1 Real Madrid

07/08
U.D. Almería 2-0 Real Madrid

09/10
Xerez 0-3 Real Madrid