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When Jose Mourinho and his boys file
out at the Santiago Bernabeu today, the players may still be thinking
about their 0-1 loss to Sporting Gijon on Saturday. Victory and not
conceding a crucial away goal to Tottenham will also be one of the
challenges facing Real Madrid, including the loss of top goal scorer,
Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese captain may miss the game because of
a thigh problem even though Mourinho has said the Portuguese star could
be risked if the player agrees to play.

Mourinho also just lost his record of
not losing a league match at home for nine years to Gijon -so will the
Real players be motivated to win this tie that could see them meeting
their fiercest rivals, Barcelona in the semi finals? But that is
jumping the gun.

Karim Benzema and Marcelo could also
miss out, which means that Mourinho must exact the best from his
threadbare squad. The good news is that Gonzalo Higuain is back even
though he showed signs of rustiness in the match against Gijon.

Tottenham as always will be expected be
at their exuberant best in this their first foray into the Champions
League quarter finals. They have already beaten AC Milan and Inter
Milan but today’s match is against the grand heavyweight of the
tournament -nine-time winners at one of the hallowed grounds of
football – Santiago Bernebeu. Will the players be frightened unto
submission or will the atmosphere lift their game?

Left to Harry Redknapp, their manager,
this tie holds no fear, apart from the raft of injuries that Spurs are
suffering from presently.

Defenders Ledley King, Jonathan
Woodgate and Younes Kaboul were joined by Alan Hutton, who needs
surgery for a knee injury on the treatment table. There are also doubts
over the fitness of William Gallas but Tom Huddlestone and Gareth Bale
should be fit.

Inter have to be careful

Still with a shout
to reclaim the treble won last season but with the bad result of
Saturday still ringing in their ears, the defending champions have the
onerous task of facing the competition’s remaining under-dog, Schalke
04.

And in Schalke 04
boss Ralf Rangnick, we have a greenhorn, having never coached any team
in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Though they might
be high on confidence having beaten Spanish club Valencia 4-2 on
aggregate in the round of 16, they have some injury problems, as do
Inter, especially in defence. Christoph Metzelder is likely to miss out
for Schalke with a broken nose. Mario Gavranovic has an ankle complaint
and Peer Kluge picked up an injury in Friday’s league match against St
Pauli, abandoned after the assistant referee was hit by a cup of beer
thrown from the stands.

Brazilian defender Lucio will sit out
the match due to suspension and should be replaced by Ivan Cordoba.
Andrea Ranocchia, his partner has been showing his inexperience in
recent times so it is left to old warhorse – Raul and the speedy
Jefferson Farfan to find the gaps.</