Big-spending Real first in the spotlight

Real Madrid kick off the Spanish season against Deportivo today needing to prove that splashing out a quarter of a billion euros will eclipse treble-winning rivals Barcelona.

Florentino Perez has returned as Real president pledging a "spectacular sporting project" and the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema, Xabi Alonso and others has lifted the hopes of the fans.

The club have a chance to lay down a marker at home to Depor as Barca's opening La Liga match against Sporting Gijon has been put back to Monday due to the European and Spanish champions' Super Cup clash against Shakhtar Donetsk last night.

Under new coach Manuel Pellegrini, poached from Villarreal, Real hope Alonso can provide the creative spark in central midfield that was lacking last season and help them match the slick passing and attacking play of Barca.

Real's strategy will be maintaining possession, controlling the tempo of matches, being dynamic and showing movement in attack, added Alonso who joined from Liverpool this month.

Before yesterday, Barca had already won one trophy this season, a thumping 5-1 aggregate win over Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup, with coach Pep Guardiola adding striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and left-back Maxwell to his squad.

As well as La Liga, the Catalans will also be defending their Champions League and King's Cup titles and contesting the FIFA Club World Cup.

Ibrahimovic joined from Italian champions Inter in a swap deal with Samuel Eto'o and believes Real will be under a lot more pressure to succeed this season than Barca.

"They have bought players to try to win, to try to create a winning team, whereas I have come to a club that is already a winner," the Swede told the As newspaper.

Sevilla, third last season, have added striker Alvaro Negredo and other players to their squad despite lacking the vast spending power of Real and Barca. They begin their campaign at Valencia tomorrow.

Atletico Madrid play at Malaga tomorrow and coach Abel Resino has managed to hold on to prized assets Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan, last season's league top scorer, as the club bid to improve on their fourth-place finish.