Only the burning cauldron illuminated their faces, flames dancing across their pupils in the dead of night. By the flickering blue fire, engulfed in darkness, they waited – four men in silence, the moon peering through the mist. The flames were stirred, the spirits too, and it began: "Owls, toads and witches; crows, salamanders and wizards; howl of dog and call of death, satyr's snout and rabbit's foot … sinful tongue of the immoral woman married to an old man, Beelzebub's fire, burning corpses, mutilated bodies of the indecent, farts from infernal bottoms, useless belly of the spinster … Hark, the roar of the burnt!" They took their cups; fire tumbled in. "With this ladle, I lift the flames and the witches flee on their broomsticks. When this potion descends our throats, our souls will be free from evil."

And with that Arsenio Iglesias, Jacques Songo'o, Fran González and Javier Manjarín stepped back from the centre circle at Riazor, raised their cups, gulped down the brew and started laughing. All around them, lay garlic cloves. "¡Salud!" said Fran. "Here's to another year!" Songo'o, Manjarín and Iglesias joined him; three men with almost 750 Deportivo de La Coruña games between them and the coach who led the original Super Depor, clinked their cups again. "To another year!" To another year of the spell. To another year of Galicia warding off bad spirits and embracing good ones. To another year in which Real Madrid come to the wet northwest and fall. A 19th year, to be precise.

Week 20, the first round of the second half of the season and Madrid were travelling to Riazor, where they had not won in almost two decades. The last time Madrid had beaten Deportivo in La Coruña, on 2 November 1991, Luis Enrique, Fernando Hierro and Míchel were playing for them, Manuel Pellegrini was coach of Palestine but not that Palestine, and Raúl was still at Atlético Madrid. The last time Madrid had beaten Deportivo in La Coruña their latest signing, Sergio Canales, was just nine months old. Madrid had played 18 times and earned just five draws. Up in Galicia, land of superstition and ritual, land of meigas and bruxas, of wise women and witches, there could be no other explanation. It's something supernatural. A curse. A spell. "It's the meigas," grinned Fran. "It must be."

Panic set in. Five points behind Barcelona, Madrid could not afford to lose. They had not won in their last two away trips – to Pamplona and Bilbao. Now was not the time to be visiting a cursed ground – and now was definitely not the time to be doing so without Cristiano Ronaldo, suspended following his red card for breaking Patrick Mtiliga's nose. The desperation with which Madrid pursued a pardon revealed their fears. As if that was not bad enough, they were without top scorer Gonzalo Higuaín, Lassana Diarra and Ezequiel Garay too. "Even a baby on the tit knows the title is at stake today," insisted Marca, its cover announcing "A Game of Life or Death" alongside a photo of Ronaldo emblazoned with a huge red cross.

Many feared death; no team had turned round an eight-point lead at this stage, Marca sighed; Sport gleefully totted up their eggs, heralding "the weekend the league breaks".

It was no such thing. Barcelona extended their lead to eight points by beating Sporting Gijón 1-0 but Madrid immediately brought it back to five by winning in La Coruña, Esteban Granero scoring the first and Karim Benzema getting two in a 3-1 win. "At last!" cheered the relieved headlines. "The spell is broken." And yet for all the firewater, for all the owls and the crows and the farts, the result was logical enough. If Madrid had failed to win their last two away games, Deportivo had won just two of their last seven, their early-season results forgotten. If Madrid had injuries, Deportivo had more. If Madrid's top scorer was missing, so – with three goals – was Deportivo's. And their key central midfielder. And their most creative player. And as for their fundamental centre-back, he was playing injured.

Much as Madrid's bid to get Ronaldo off delivered a disquietening message to the rest of the squad – you're nothing without him – they do have other players. €197m worth of other players, in fact. Good players. Players who, collectively at least, may even be a better side without him. Ronaldo has easily been Madrid's most outstanding performer but he dominates their every move, demanding the ball, sprinting into positions occupied by team-mates, and shooting on sight. It may be coincidence but Madrid's three most outstanding performances as a team have been away at Espanyol, Valencia and now in La Coruña – and Ronaldo did not start any of them. Nor did Diarra, without whom Xabi Alonso appears to have greater space, more options and a clearer role. Saturday night was the perfect example: with Granero and Kaká as outlets, Alonso misplaced just nine of 83 passes.

Not that anyone noticed: they were too busy going bonkers over someone else. The man who was dropped from the side after telling Pellegrini where to stick it at half-time of Madrid's humiliating defeat at Alcorcón, was injured immediately after and snapped "anyone who doesn't believe me can go and pick poppies" when it was put to him that two months was an awfully long time to be out with a bruise, offered to undergo a psychiatric examination during a press conference, said he wanted to leave and set up a million easy jokes when he revealed plans to retire in Bangkok: José María Gutiérrez Hernández, Guti. The night belonged to him thanks to what Madrid's website called "a heel-flick masterpiece".

The masterpiece in question – one Ángel Cappa claimed they should clear a room at the Prado for – was a wonderful assist for Madrid's second. Passing up a one-on-one, with what David Gistau described as "the disdain of someone treading on a hamster", Guti instead left goalkeeper and defender on the floor to backheel the ball into the path of Benzema.

He could have scored himself. But scoring would have been too easy; in the words of one of Guti's former team-mates, it would have been "too vulgar". Too ordinary. Too dull. Too normal. Too so what? Guti, said AS's editor Alfredo Relaño, is a cross between Danny Blanchflower and Curro Romero. Blanchflower once claimed that "the game is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom," while Curro Romero was a bullfighter. And in bullfighting, it is not about the result, invariably 6-0, but the art, the style, the skill. The means, not the end.

Yet, the end does matter. Even to Guti. At the end, he sank to his knees and punched the air. "I thought we'd never win here," he admitted, relieved. At last, for the first time in his entire career, he had – thanks to what AS's cover called "a golden backheel" and Marca dubbed "the heel of God". And even meigas can't compete with Him. Even fiery cauldrons and midnight rituals are no match for the Almighty.

Talking points

• Jesús Navas's flick was none too shabby either and Alvaro Negredo's finish was even better – a neat chip to secure Sevilla's 2-1 victory over Valencia in what was set to be the weekend's biggest game but ended up being a little disappointing. Valencia are third and Sevilla fourth; Valencia are 13 points off Barcelona – and that, unfortunately, pretty much sums up the difference at the top. Valencia could be entitled to feel a bit hard done by after Andres Palop kung-fu kicked David Villa in the final few minutes, only for it to go unnoticed by the ref. Why is it that goalies are allowed to lead with their knees and studs every single time they come out for the ball?

• Barcelona dominated Sporting but were a little fortunate with the goal, scored by Pedro, which is mighty close to being offside (although from some angles it looks onside, some it looks off – and it looks suspiciously like the media have been tampering with photos to 'prove' their case). More importantly, it came via a free-kick taken a good few yards from where the foul actually happened. After all the fuss over Ronaldo's elbow this week, there is bound to be some backlash against Leo Messi too, after he seemed to kick out at an opponent.

• Two former Athletic Bilbao coaches have been given the chop. Ernesto Valverde was sacked by Villarreal last night after they were beaten 2-0 by Osasuna. José Luis Mendilíbar has been sacked by Valladolid today after his side drew 1-1 with Almería. They have won only three times all season, having escaped relegation on the final day of last season – and through no merit of their own, having diced with death at Betis.

• Xerez didn't just score this weekend, they actually won. Mallorca's dreadful away form continues. Question is, how long can they maintain their home form? For the second game in a row, Aduriz missed a penalty – and for the second game in a row, his attempt was absolutely appalling. Zaragoza won too – their first victory in 11 games.

Results: Espanyol 1-0 Athletic, Deportivo 1-3 Real Madrid, Sporting 0-1 Barcelona, Getafe 0-0 Racing, Xerez 2-1 Mallorca, Tenerife 1-3 Zaragoza, Villarreal 0-2 Osasuna, Valladolid 1-1 Almería, Atlético 0-2 Málaga, Sevilla 2-1 Valencia.

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