6 March 2002 - Real Madrid's Unwanted Birthday Present

On 6 March 2002, Real Madrid celebrated their 100th birthday with a loss to Deportivo de La Coruña in the Copa del Rey Final.

With Real Madrid's 100th anniversary falling on 6 March 2002, club president Florentino Pérez arranged to mark the date by hosting the Copa del Rey Final on that day. He further instructed manager Vicente Del Bosque to place a higher priority on the cup, which Madrid had not won since 1993. The previous season, they had been eliminated in the Round of 64 by third-division side Toledo.

But Deportivo, who had won La Liga in 2000 and finished second to Real Madrid in 2001, had no intention of letting the hosts claim the cup as birthday present. They swarmed around the ball in the first half with an energy and determination that quickly caught Madrid off-guard. In just the 6th minute, midfielder Sergio González (pictured) fired Deportivo ahead from close range after beating Madrid captain Fernando Hierro and right back Míchel Salgado to slip the ball through the legs of keeper César. Just over half an hour later, striker Diego Tristán doubled the lead with another close-range shot.

Madrid closed the gap to one with a goal from Raúl Gonzalez, but they would get no closer. The match ended 1-2 to Deportivo, giving them only the second Copa del Rey in club history.

Real Madrid got some consolation a little over two months later when they won their ninth European Cup/Champions League trophy, beating Bayer Leverkusen 1-2 in Glasgow.

5 November 2003 - This One Goes To Eleven

On 5 November 2003, Monaco defeated Deportivo de La Coruña 8-3 in a Champions League group stage match at Stade Louis II. It remains the highest-scoring match in the tournament since the Champions League began in 1992.

Deportivo won the earlier meeting on 21 October by the narrow margin of 1-0 thanks to an 83rd minute goal from striker Diego Tristán. The rematch, however, was decided much earlier. The Spanish side fell behind 4-0 in the first half hour due to goals from Monaco midfielders Jérôme Rothen (2') and Ludovic Giuly (11'), plus a brace from striker Miladin "Dado" Pršo (pictured) (25', 29'), who was celebrating his 29th birthday. Tristán (39') and wingback Lionel Scaloni (44') pulled Deportivo within two just before the break, but left enough time for Pršo to complete his birthday hat-trick in the second minute of stoppage time.

At the half, Deportivo substituted goalkeepers, replacing José Molina with Gustavo Munua, but the change proved ineffective. Monaco kept applying the pressure with a 47th-minute goal from midfielder Jaroslav Plašil. Pršo added his fourth two minutes later, to stretch the lead to 7-2. Tristán scored his second in the 52nd minute, but Monaco midfielder Édouard Cissé found the net in the 67th minute to restore the 5-goal lead.

Monaco drew their final two group stage matches, but finished at the top of Group C and advanced to the Final, where they lost to Porto. Deportivo finished second in the group and were eliminated in the semi-finals, also by Porto.