Zinedine Zidane gave his first pre-match press conference as Real Madrid's new manager and declared Cristiano Ronaldo 'untransferable'.
Zidane picked Ronaldo when he selected a dream team XI for Canal Plus last year and he said he would be starting in his usual left side position on Saturday alongside Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.
That all-star side he picked for French television included Leo Messi and Dani Alves and lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with seven Real Madrid players in it.
He selected Iker Casillas in goal; Alves, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Marcelo in defence; Luka Modric and Yaya Toure in midfield and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ronaldo either side of Messi behind Karim Benzema.
Against Deportivo the team should have a similar shape with Benzema leading the line and either Isco or James Rodriguez playing ahead of and between Ronaldo and Bale.
Toni Kroos should partner Luka Modric in midfield with Dani Carvajal coming in at right-back and Pepe and Ramos [as per Zidane’s Canal Plus dream team] and Marcelo completing the defence.
Despite being a young player he values very highly, it seems Raphael Varane’s progress under his new coach will be patient with a start from the bench in the first game of a new era.
Deportivo will not make easy opponents for Zidane. They have already stunned Barcelona this season drawing 2-2 at the Nou Camp and are up to seventh with only one defeat in eight games on their travels.
He scored one of his greatest goals against them in 2002 at the Santiago Bernabeu in a 3-1 win but he was also sent off against them twice and lost the 2002 Copa del Rey final against them when the script said that Real would mark their centenary by winning the tournament at their home ground.
In Zidane's first pre-match press conference on Friday he was also asked about comments made by his former coach Raymond Domenech that he was: ‘not a nice guy and capable of anything’.
Zidane said: "He’s right. What can I say. He knows me well. I also have my opinion of him."
Asked about how he believed he would fare as Real Madrid coach he said: "I believe things will go very well, very well indeed. When you look at the quality we have in the team I can’t imagine anything else."
He said he did not foresee players leaving or coming to the club in the January transfer window and said he already had the dressing room onside.
"I was here under Ancelotti working alongside Paul Clement. I already have the confidence of the players. I am going to sleep well tonight. We have trained well and I am ready for this challenge."