Liga Report: Valencia Blank Real

Defending champions Real Madrid slumped to their first defeat of the season away to Valencia on Saturday. Miguel Mista got the charged-up hosts off to a dream start by finding the net on five minutes, while Ricardo Oliveira endeared himself to his new fans by scoring the killer second with just under 20 minutes left.

The hosts came out of the tunnel like bats out of hell and took the game straight to their illustrious opponents, who had attempted to convince Roberto Ayala to switch camps during the summer.

Within five minutes Valencia had created three chances, the last one having born fruit in the form of a goal. The early opener came about when Pablito Aimar put Madrid's defense on the back-foot with a surging fun from midfield, before releasing Jorge Lopez on the right, who duly crossed for Mista to slot home at the near-post.

Beckham once again was pulling the strings in Real's midfield but got precious little support from the majority of his teammates. Zidane can be excused as he just barely passed a late fitness test, but Figo seemed more interested in complaining to the officials while Ronaldo didn't appear interested at all. Guti also failed to make an impression, having started in place of the injured Raul.

Beckham corners were the main source of threat for Valencia, who had Canizares to thank for keeping out a Raul Bravo header on 15 minutes before Roberto Carlos failed to duplicate his spectacular goal against Marseille when the England captain perfectly picked him out at the edge of the box.

Los Che bossed most of the match though, and should have doubled their lead on 67 minutes when Baraja wriggled free in front of the net but only managed to head straight at Casillas.

Valencia were not to be denied, however, and much to the delight of the vociferous Mestalla it was the new Brazilian signing Oliveira that made sure of the points with his first goal for his new club 72 minutes in. The talented young striker polished off his own rebound after having his first effort parried by Casillas.

All in all it was a fantastic day for Valencia, which was only blighted by the fact that their Argentine playmaker Aimar was forced to limp off with muscle problems 30 minutes in. It remains to be seen what the extent of his injury is, but it didn't appear to be anything serious.