A Real chance to prove

Real made a shaky start to the present campaign, slumping to three successive defeats including a 3-0 trouncing by Olympique Lyon in their opening match in Group F, but a 3-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in midweek and their victory at Alaves makes them confident they have turned the corner.

“Talking about a crisis after just three games was madness,” fullback Michel Salgado said after the Alaves game.

“Our attitude is good, we are more compact and are beginningto play more like we did last season when we controlled games and did a lot of damage on the break.”

But the team continues to be overly dependent on the finishing power of Ronaldo, affectionately known as “El Gordo” (fatty) by his team mates. “El gordo walks around for 70 minutes, but he gets one chance and puts it away — he always makes the difference,” said midfielder Pablo Garcia. In Ronaldo’s absence, his fellow countryman Robinho, who started the Alaves match on the bench, is set to partner Raul in attack. With Zinedine Zidane still in the final phase of recovery from a thigh injury, Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo faces a quandary over selection in midfield.

In the Lyon defeat he took the more conservative option of playing Garcia and Thomas Gravesen in midfield, but the recent fine form of the more creative Guti could lead him to change his tactics. At the back Jonathan Woodgate missed the Alaves match through suspension after his calamatous debut against Bilbao in which he scored an own goal and then got sent off. (Reuters)