Deportivo La Coruña and Levante UD face each other to open Matchday 9 of the Spanish Championship (La Liga) on Friday, October 16, 2026, at Riazor in La Coruña. The match kicks off at 3 p.m. ET (9 p.m. local stadium time) with live coverage in the United States on ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, Disney+, and Fubo.
Both clubs enter the fixture on a four-match winless streak in the competition, having recorded two draws and two losses each during that span. Deportivo La Coruña sits in 8th place in the La Liga standings with 10 points from 8 games (12 goals scored and 11 conceded), coming off a 3-2 defeat against Real Sociedad on October 11, 2026. Levante UD has 6 points in 7 matches played (11 goals scored and 15 conceded), following a 3-3 draw with Sevilla on October 12, 2026. Ahead of the game, Levante UD head coach Luís Castro stated: “El equipo está creciendo y yo no me preocupo mucho.” In the last official meeting between the sides, on January 25, 2025, Levante UD defeated Deportivo La Coruña 2-1.
Where to watch Deportivo La Coruña vs Levante UD live
Viewers in the United States can follow the La Liga broadcast across television and digital platforms.
- ESPN Deportes (cable TV)
- ESPN+ (streaming)
- Disney+ (streaming)
- Fubo (streaming)
Kick-off time and venue for Deportivo La Coruña vs Levante UD
The fixture opens the weekend schedule in Spain at a venue with an official capacity of 32,490 spectators.
- Date: Friday, October 16, 2026
- Time: 3 p.m. ET (15:00 America/New_York) / 9 p.m. local time at the stadium (21:00 Europe/Madrid)
- Venue: Riazor, in La Coruña
- Competition: Spanish Championship (La Liga) — Matchday 9
Read also: RC Deportivo vs Levante UD: where to watch live, kick-off time and lineups (La Liga, Oct 16)
Probable lineup for Deportivo La Coruña
Spanish head coach Antonio Hidalgo Morilla, who has led the team since 2025 and renewed his contract through June 2028, is expected to set up Deportivo La Coruña in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Official starting lineups are only confirmed one hour before kick-off, and there are open spots in central defense and the attacking midfield.
Probable starters for Deportivo La Coruña: Leo Román; Ximo Navarro, José María Giménez, Bright Ede (or Lucas Noubi), and Giacomo Quagliata; Diego Villares and Mario Soriano; Riki Rodríguez (or David Mella / Jonathan Asp Jensen), Luismi Cruz, and Yeremay Hernández; Bil Nsongo.
The home side has four confirmed absences for Matchday 9, and no players are one yellow card away from suspension:
- Lorenzo Amatucci (Italian midfielder, suspended after a straight red card against Real Sociedad)
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (forward and the team’s top scorer in the season with 5 goals, out following meniscus surgery)
- Marc Casadó (midfielder, out with a muscle/clavicle injury)
- Zakaria Eddahchouri (forward, sidelined with a wrist fracture)
Probable lineup for Levante UD
Portuguese manager Luís Manuel Ferreira de Castro (Luís Castro), hired in December 2025 on a deal running through June 2027, will field a Levante UD side that alternates between 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 systems.
Probable starters for Levante UD: Mathew Ryan; Jeremy Toljan, Adrián de la Fuente (Dela), Ifeanyi Ndukwe, and Manu Sánchez; Oriol Rey, Jon Ander Olasagasti, and Daniel Requena (or Petar Ratkov / Víctor García); Roger Brugué, Thiago Fernández, and Iván Romero.
Levante UD has no players nearing a yellow-card suspension for this round, while three squad members are dealing with physical issues:
- Álex Primo (goalkeeper, out with a shoulder injury)
- Hugo Sotelo (midfielder, out with a knee sprain)
- Karl Etta Eyong (forward, recovering from a thigh injury)
Read also: Vinícius Júnior starts on bench as Real Madrid face Villarreal in La Liga
Match officials for Deportivo La Coruña vs Levante UD
The Technical Committee of Referees (CTA/RFEF), the officiating body of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, appointed Seville native Manuel Jesús Orellana Cid as the main referee for the match.
- Referee: Manuel Jesús Orellana Cid (CTA/RFEF)
- Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Tejero García (CTA/RFEF)
- Assistant Referee 2: Rubén Becerril Gómez (CTA/RFEF)
- Fourth Official: José Antonio Palomares Gutiérrez (CTA/RFEF)
- VAR: Valentín Pizarro Gómez (CTA/RFEF)
Head-to-head history between Deportivo La Coruña and Levante UD
The 2026/27 campaign marks the return of Deportivo La Coruña to the top flight of Spanish soccer after an eight-season absence. Before this season, the most recent official matches between the two clubs took place in the Spanish Second Division (LaLiga Hypermotion) during the 2024/25 season. Levante UD won both encounters by a 2-1 scoreline: first in Valencia on October 24, 2024, and then at Riazor on Saturday, January 25, 2025, for the 24th round.
In the Spanish first division, the last meetings prior to the current season occurred in the 2017/18 campaign. Both matches between Deportivo La Coruña and Levante UD in that edition ended in 2-2 draws, played on August 26, 2017, and January 27, 2018.
