Champions League brings gloom to Madrid teams (News Feature)

By Duncan Shaw Oct 22, 2009, 10:40 GMT

Madrid - Wednesday was a horrible night in the Champions League for both Madrid teams, with Real crashing 3-2 at home to old enemies AC Milan and Atletico being blown away 4-0 by Chelsea.

Thursday's papers are extremely critical of both teams - and especially of coaches Manuel Pellegrini and Abel Resino.

Abel might well be fired by Atletico on Thursday, and the pressure is building up on Pellegrini.

Sports daily Marca, Spain's highest-selling paper, ridiculed Pellegrini by putting his after-match quote 'our play was not so bad' as it's headline, then asking 'What Match Was He Watching?'

Another of Marca's headlines is 'Cristiano Return, Madrid Needs You', in reference to injured megastar Cristiano Ronaldo.

Rival daily AS, for its part, claims that all that Real 'have at the moment is the soul of Raul.' The veteran striker scored Real's first goal, set up the second - then had a third one disallowed for a tight offside.

AS criticizes Pellegrini even more harshly than Marca, claiming that he is not the coach to manage the most expensive squad in football history.

'October advances,' writes AS editor Alfredo Relano, 'and Pellegrini is exactly where he was before: at kilometre zero.'

Real - who have failed to get beyond the round of 16 since 2004 - are desperate to do better this time, especially after spending so much money and having been granted the privilege of hosting the final.

Real are joint top of Group C with Milan, both on six points, and second in La Liga, one point behind Barcelona.

Pellegrini's job is safe for the time being, though anything less than a convincing win in Gijon on Saturday will increase the pressure on him.

Abel is in a much worse situation than Pellegrini after Atletico's meltdown against Chelsea.

Indeed, he might well be shown the door later on Thursday. After the 4-0 humiliation Atletico president Enrique Cerezo said, somewhat ominously, that 'something has to be done...the situation cannot continue like this. We have to look for a solution right now.'

Marca claims that Michael Laudrup and Bernd Schuster - both of whom cut their teeth in Spain by coaching Getafe - are the favourites to replace Abel, while AS suggests that Cerezo is more interested in former Spain boss Luis Aragones.

Atletico are sixth from bottom in La Liga - in which they have conceded no less than 17 goals in just seven matches - and bottom of Champions League Group D, with just one point from three games.