Madrid - Injury-plagued Real Madrid face a daunting trip to
Belarus for a Champions League match which could shape the season for
the nine-time European champions.
Bernd Schuster's troubled team is away to BATE Borisov in a Group
H match as the Spanish champions scramble to reach the last 16 amid
growing pressure on the German coach.
Real will ensure themselves of a place in the knock-out stage with
a victory at BATE, providing Juventus avoid defeat away to Zenit St
Petersburg.
But two defeats in the group to Juventus have dented Real's
confidence, and a further defeat would leave them facing a tough last
game in the group at home to Zenit to avoid a humiliating exit.
Real secured a 1-0 league victory Saturday over next-to-last
Recreativo Huelva to end a run of three games without a win, but it
was a far from convincing performance.
The Spanish champions will make the trip to Belarus without injury
victims Fabio Cannavaro, Ruben de la Red, Mahamadou Diarra,
Arjen Robben, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Gonzalo Higuain.
In addition, Wesley Sneijder is touch and go after taking a heavy
knock in Saturday's defeat of Recreativo Huelva.
The injuries to Robben, van Nistelrooy and Sneijder mean that
Javier Saviola will make a rare start, up front with captain Raul.
The little Argentinian - who has hardly featured since joining
from Barcelona in 2007 - is determined to take his chance.
'I am always ready to help the team,' he said.
'We are in a bad run of injuries, but we have to come through. In
this squad there are other players who can do things well.'
Saviola added that 'we are conscious of the importance of this
game, and of how fundamental it is to get a good result there...The
team is optimistic, we know that we can win.'
Real are second in the group with six points, four points behind
leaders Juventus, with Zenit on four points and BATE two.
Meanwhile inconsistent Villarreal are also in action on Tuesday,
at home to reigning champions Manchester United, with both needing a
point to qualify.
Villarreal are joint top of Group E with United, both on eight
points, six points clear of Aalborg and Celtic.
The 'Yellow Submarine' raised eyebrows on Saturday by crashing 3-0
at home to midtable Valladolid, a result which pulls them down to
third in La Liga.
Coach Manuel Pellegrini will have to get by without injury victims
Diego Godin and Joseba Llorente. Pascal Cygan is likely to come in at
the back for Godin, whilst Guille Franco will continue to deputize
for Llorente.
Barcelona will on Wednesday be trying to stay top of Group C away
to Sporting Lisbon, with both teams qualified for the knockout
stages. Barca have 10 points, just one point ahead of the Portuguese
side and will want a good result to guarantee top spot in the group.
The Catalans will make the trip without injury victims Eric
Abidal, Gabriel Milito and Andres Iniesta, though Rafa Marquez and
Lionel Messi should be fit.
On Sunday, Barca sorely missed Iniesta and Messi in a 1-1 home
draw against Getafe.
Also on Wednesday, Spain's other representative Atletico Madrid
are at home to PSV Eindhoven - though without any fans to cheer them
on.
Atletico have been ordered by UEFA to play the behind closed
doors, as a punishment for the incidents at October's home game
against Olympique Marseille.
'It will be a really strange game,' said Atletico midfielder Ever
Banega. 'We are used to having our fans get behind us and help us.'
Atletico are joint top of group D with Liverpool, both on eight
points, and require on a draw to advance. But failure to beat PSV
will increase the pressure on embattled coach Javier Aguirre, who has
taken massive flak for Sunday's 1-1 draw away to lowly Numancia.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story