La Liga · Deportivo de A Coruña
Make Deportivo's Supporter Talks Routine After the Win
Riazor ended a planned 12-minute silence just before Deportivo opened the scoring against Valencia. The timing was symbolic; preserving the supporter dialogue is practical.
Twelve silent minutes belonged to the supporters
The people who make Riazor sound like Riazor spent the first 12 minutes against Valencia withholding that sound. Their planned protest ended, the singing returned and Deportivo forced the corner that opened the scoring in the 13th. Luismi Cruz delivered it; César Tárrega turned the ball into his own net.
It is tempting to call it the goal of the people and leave the story wrapped in blue-and-white ribbon. Resist that. Supporters did not bend Tárrega's back or strike the corner. They did provide a visible before-and-after picture of the club: the same stadium first withholding its voice, then using it, after an agreement between Deportivo and the supporters' federation ended weeks of confrontation.
That timing made the 3-1 win more than Deportivo's first top-flight victory in eight years. It gave the club a public demonstration of what had been missing. The board should treat the détente as competitive infrastructure that requires maintenance, not a disagreement that the scoreboard has kindly deleted.
The football result belongs to the team
Antonio Hidalgo's side did not need mythology to beat Valencia. Deportivo placed Luismi, Mario Soriano, Lorenzo Amatucci and Riki Rodríguez inside, giving the buildup several close options. They pressed the visitors' first passes and reached the opening corner because the early control belonged to them before the noise did.
The second goal carried a different proof. A Valencia free kick became a Deportivo counter, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ran from halfway, escaped two defenders and lifted his finish over Stole Dimitrievski. It was his third goal in the first three league matches. The 37-year-old did not spend the evening cosplaying his old acceleration; he selected the one space worth attacking and finished with economy.
Deportivo also survived their own warning. Bright Ede's horizontal pass inside the penalty area allowed Umar Sadiq to make it 2-1. Valencia then held more of the ball, but the hosts recovered enough control for Bil Nsongo's pressure to force Mouctar Diakhaby into the own goal that restored the margin. Call it a promoted team with a plan and an error, not a crowd miracle with boots attached.
The silence had institutional authors
The protest cannot be reduced to supporters wanting louder music or a different halftime routine. The dispute had escalated during August. Deportivo said players had received insults and pressure to take positions in the conflict, while the Federation of Supporters' Clubs, Old Faces and Riazor Blues denied those accusations, criticized restrictions around the mixed area and called for chief executive Massimo Benassi to negotiate.
Those competing claims were serious, and they left the players inside an institutional fight they did not own. Friday's agreement before the Valencia match mattered because it returned the argument to the parties with authority to resolve it. The 12-minute silence preserved the supporters' right to mark the rupture without making the entire afternoon another referendum on it.
A club can sell belonging in every campaign and still discover that belonging has opinions. Deportivo's return to La Liga intensifies that responsibility. Eight years away created enormous appetite around Riazor; it did not convert the stadium into a customer-service queue where attachment is welcome only when it agrees with management.
Private talks are protection, not retreat
The strongest objection is that the club should keep sporting performance separate from supporter politics. Hidalgo and his players need preparation, not another public negotiation. The best protection for them may be to draw a firm boundary, let executives and supporter groups meet privately and stop every team result from becoming evidence in the dispute.
That boundary is sensible, and it is precisely why the agreement needs a durable process. Without a regular channel between the club and organized supporters, the next disagreement will again travel through statements, access disputes and pressure around the squad. Silence is powerful once. As an operating model, it is a terrible meeting schedule.
Sunday's win can even make complacency easier. Five points from three unbeaten matches place Deportivo seventh after the round, while Aubameyang's finishing gives every conversation a cheerful detour. Results create breathing room. They do not answer who meets, how concerns are recorded or when either side should expect a response.
Routine is the remedy
The remedy should be proportionate. Deportivo and the supporters' federation should keep a standing meeting rhythm through the first months of the season, name the categories of issue each forum can resolve and publish a short joint record when an agreement changes matchday practice. That does not require either side to surrender criticism or disclose private player matters.
It does require ownership. Benassi and the club leadership cannot celebrate Riazor's atmosphere as an asset while treating the relationship that produces it as an occasional crisis file. Supporter representatives, for their part, must keep pressure away from individual players and direct disputes toward the people empowered to make policy.
The next test will come when Deportivo change an access rule, ticket practice or stand policy and both sides decide whether to use the channel before publishing rival communiques. The 13th-minute goal was a beautiful coincidence. A functioning relationship would be less cinematic and far more valuable.
2026-2027 season
La Liga standings
| # | Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | Pts | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Barcelona |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +10 | 9 | W W W |
| 2 |  Real Madrid |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +8 | 9 | W W W |
| 3 |  Atlético Madrid |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +4 | 7 | W D W |
| 4 |  Deportivo Alavés |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +4 | 7 | W D W |
| 5 |  Osasuna |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 7 | W W D |
| 6 |  Sevilla |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 6 | L W W |
| 7 |  Real Betis |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 6 | L W W |
| 8 |  Deportivo de A Coruña |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 5 | W D D |
| 9 |  Levante |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | W D L |
| 10 |  Racing de Santander |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | W L D |
| 11 |  Real Sociedad |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 4 | D W L L |
| 12 |  Espanyol |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | +1 | 3 | L L W |
| 13 |  Athletic Bilbao |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 3 | W L L |
| 14 |  Getafe |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 3 | L W L |
| 15 |  Villarreal |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 2 | L D D |
| 16 |  Celta Vigo |
4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 2 | D L L D |
| 17 |  Valencia |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 1 | L L D |
| 18 |  Rayo Vallecano |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -4 | 1 | L D L |
| 19 |  Elche |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -6 | 1 | L L D |
| 20 |  Málaga |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -6 | 1 | L D L |
