Real Madrid Schedule 2017-18: La Liga Fixtures Released

Real Madrid will begin the defence of their La Liga title with a showdown against Deportivo La Coruna at the Estadio Riazor.

The fixtures for the 2017-18 La Liga season were announced on Friday:

The opening weekend is scheduled for August 19, per ESPN. According to La Liga, in Week 2, Los Blancos will face Valencia at home, while their third match will be a home clash with Levante.

Meanwhile, they will play Atletico Madrid away on November 19 and at home on April 8.

The first Clasico of the campaign is pencilled in for December 20 at the Santiago Bernabeu, with the return fixture set to be played at the Camp Nou on May 6, per Barcelona's official Twitter feed:

Here are the fixtures in full:

20 Aug 2017: Deportivo La Coruna (A)

27 Aug 2017: Valencia (H)

10 Sep 2017: Levante (H)

17 Sep 2017: Real Sociedad (A)

20 Sep 2017: Real Betis (H)

24 Sep 2017: Alaves (A)

01 Oct 2017: Espanyol (H)

15 Oct 2017: Getafe (A) 

22 Oct 2017: Eibar (H)

29 Oct 2017: Girona (A)

05 Nov 2017: Las Palmas (H)

19 Nov 2017: Atletico Madrid (A)

26 Nov 2017: Malaga (H)

03 Dec 2017: Athletic Club (A)

10 Dec 2017: Sevilla (H)

17 Dec 2017: Leganes (A)

20 Dec 2017: Barcelona (H)

07 Jan 2018: Celta Vigo (A)

14 Jan 2018: Villarreal (H)

21 Jan 2018: Deportivo La Coruna (H)

28 Jan 2018: Valencia (A)

04 Feb 2018: Levante (A)

11 Feb 2018: Real Sociedad (H)

18 Feb 2018: Real Betis (A)

25 Feb 2018: Alaves (H)

28 Feb 2018: Espanyol (A)

04 Mar 2018: Getafe (H)

11 Mar 2018: Eibar (A)

18 Mar 2018: Girona (H)

01 Apr 2018: Las Palmas (A)

08 Apr 2018: Atletico Madrid (H)

15 Apr 2018: Malaga (A)

18 Apr 2018: Athletic Club (H)

22 Apr 2018: Sevilla (A)

29 Apr 2018: Leganes (H)

06 May 2018: Barcelona (A)

13 May 2018: Celta Vigo (H)

20 May 2018: Villarreal (A)

Real Looking for Domestic Dominance

Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

For Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, bettering the standards set by this team from last season is always going to be a big ask. But at Real Madrid, it's imperative those standards are met.

After winning La Liga and the UEFA Champions League last term, it's tough for this group of players to accomplish too much more in the coming campaign. Madridistas will want to see the team stamp their authority on the domestic competition, though.

After all, last season's La Liga triumph was the club's first in five years, as rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid got the better of Real at times. Now it feels as if the Santiago Bernabeu side are ready to kick-start a new era.

In Zidane, they have a manager who has set a high bar, as Squawka Football noted after his second UEFA Champions League triumph in as many seasons as a coach:

One of the merits of the Frenchman's management is his ability to rotate the squad and ensure star men are in tremendous shape towards the back end of the season. Cristiano Ronaldo was the primary beneficiary last year.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

You sense that the Portuguese will continue to be chopped and changed in 2017-18, and there will be times when he's left out of the squad altogether. But the 32-year-old came into his own in the big matches for Real last season, as noted by Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague:

While star names like Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos will continue to play an important role next term, there are young players that have got plenty of fans excited at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Jesus Vallejo is expected to feature regularly having impressed on loan at Eintracht Frankfurt last term, while Marcos Llorente is another who'll be vying for a first-team spot after shining with Alaves. It's Marco Asensio who has so many excited in the capital, though.

JAVIER SORIANO/Getty Images

The 21-year-old shone in bursts last term and now looks primed for a huge breakthrough. Per Spanish football journalist David Cartlidge, Asensio has been imperious at the summer's UEFA Under-21 European Championship:

Having enjoyed so much success since Zidane took over the biggest danger for this set of players has to be complacency.

However, with so much quality in the squad and with rivals Barcelona potentially undergoing a spell of transition under new boss Ernesto Valverde, it's tough to foresee a scenario in which Real aren't the premier team in Spain's top flight again.