The draw put Real and Villarreal in eighth and ninth place respectively in the league table after sharing a point.

Rejuvenated Real did not live up to their fans' expectations after a dull performance throughout the match in their first competitive game under Italian coach Fabio Capello.

Real had the first chance of the game in the 13th minute when Antonio Cassano connected with Michael Salgado's inch-perfect cross from the right-flank to head just wide.

After Cassano's effort, the ball was included totally in the midfield as both sides failed to create clear scoring opportunities until the 31st minute when Marcos Senna imposed threat on Real Keeper Iker Casillas.

The Spanish international collected the ball on the edge of the area before firing a low drive that was tipped away by Casillas.

The second-half was no difference as Real struggled to break the organized and resilient Yellow Submarines.

Elsewhere, Deportivo La Coruna kicked-off their league campaign with a 3-2 home victory over Real Zaragoza.

Diego Milito put Zaragoza ahead in the ninth minute before Juan Rodrيguez leveled the score in the 17th minute.

Two goals from Sergio and Javier Arizmendi for Deportivo in the 38th and 75th minutes put Deportivo in front before Ewerthon pulled one back for the visitors nine minutes from time.

In other matches, newly promoted Gimnastic edged Espanyol 1-0, Getafe beat Osasuna 2-0, Atletico Madrid defeated Racing Santander 1-0 and Mallorca were held to a 1-1 draw with Recreativo.