PREVIEW: Injury-plagued Real Madrid face difficult trip to Belarus

By Duncan Shaw Nov 24, 2008, 8:31 GMT

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.