CL Preview: Real Madrid – BATE Borisov

It’s showtime once again in Europe’s blue-ribbon club competition. The term David vs Goliath could not be more appropriately applied to this encounter as nine-time continental champions, Real Madrid welcome tournament debutants, BATE Borisov.

Another Year, Another Attempt

Last season, Real Madrid snapped a three-year running streak of losing their opening encounter in the Champions League. A 2-1 win at home against Werder Bremen ended that jinx as they went on to top the group but in spite of that, they still could not overcome the gremlin of stumbling at the first knockout round.

It was the third year in succession that they were sent packing at that stage, eliminated this time by AS Roma, and the fifth year in a row that they have failed to reach the semi finals.

The club’s board and their fans were happy enough to overlook that failure just this one time simply because it was Bernd Schuster’s first year in charge and he was missing various key players in each of the legs against Roma. The team as a whole were also inconveniently going through their worst form of the entire campaign at the time of meeting.

But with the amnesty being extended, now comes the time for heightened expectations and success. Schuster cannot afford another flop in the competition this term. And for a club like Real Madrid, anything short of an appearance in the final, at the very least, will be deemed a flop.

This year’s group stage will undoubtedly be one of the trickiest Los Merengues have had to face in a while. Their main rival will ofcourse be Juventus, a side who are always a threat and a constant problem for the Spanish outfit. There’s also a potential banana skin in the form of Zenit St. Petersburg, last season’s UEFA Cup winners and newly crowned Supercup champions, who have already shown that they are capable of beating any of Europe’s top guns.

Which brings us to little known BATE Borisov. They are the unknown entity of the group and it is precisely that quality which makes them so dangerous. Madrid will simply have to study and adapt to their opponents game plan as they go along in the match. But the one piece of homework that you would expect the men in white to do is to brush up on their knowledge of defending dead-ball situations.

History Makers

FC BATE may not have the illustrious history of nine Champions League trophies lined astern in their trophy cabinet but they have already made history in their own country.

Regardless of what happens to them in this competition, they will now go down into the record books for becoming the first ever Belarusian side to play in Europe’s elite tournament.

Up until the draw in Switzerland several weeks ago, not many outside of Belarus would have heard of this club and it’s no wonder judging by their European pedigree.

This will be only their third ever participation in a competition-proper in Europe. Their two previous involvements came in 2001 and 2007 in the UEFA Cup, but they were thumped by half a dozen goals on aggregate on each occasion by AC Milan and Villarreal respectively in the first round.

Based on their past records, they are the second most inexperienced side in the Champions League this term after only CFR Cluj. But for a team who were playing out of their domestic league’s third division just 13 years ago, it is a massive achievement and a huge leap forward for the club’s development.

Still, BATE are unlikely to cause too much of an upset in this group, with all due respect. With Madrid, Juventus and Zenit set to fight amongst themselves for the top three spots, the most the 2007 Belarusian league champions can hope for is to wait patiently and pounce on any grave slip-ups the trio might suffer and sneak into the UEFA Cup.

FORM GUIDE

Real Madrid

Sep 14 Real Madrid 4-3 Numancia (LA LIGA)

Aug 31 Deportivo La Coruña 2-1 Real Madrid (LA LIGA)

Aug 27 Real Madrid 5-3 Sporting Lisbon (TROFEO BERNABÉU)

Aug 24 Real Madrid 4-2 Valencia (SUPERCOPA)

Aug 17 Valencia 3-2 Real Madrid (SUPERCOPA)

BATE Borisov

Sep 13 Naftan 1-2 BATE (VYSSHAYA LIGA)

Sep 08 Neman 3-7 BATE (NATIONAL LEAGUE CUP)

Aug 31 BATE 2-2 Smorgon (VYSSHAYA LIGA)

Aug 27 BATE 1-1 Levski Sofia (CL 3^rd QUALIFYING ROUND)

Aug 23 Granit 2-2 BATE (VYSSHAYA LIGA)

TEAM NEWS

Real Madrid

Veterans Raúl and Fabio Cannavaro were given a chance to rest at the weekend against Numancia to help them regain full match fitness. Although the captain did make a second half cameo, both will be expected to start against BATE.

Sergio Ramos also missed last Sunday’s game due to a groin problem but he has been cleared by the medical team and he, too, should return to the staring line-up. Michel Salgado and Christoph Metzelder has been left out of the squad completely, while centreback Pepe is suspended due to a ban carried over from last season, as is midfielder Rubén de la Red.

Wesley Sneijder meanwhile, continues to recover from a damaged cruciate knee ligament he suffered during pre-season.

Probable Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Casillas – Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro, Heinze, Marcelo – Gago, Guti – van der Vaart, Raúl, Robben – van Nistelrooy

BATE Borisov

BATE manager Viktor Goncharenko could not have asked for a worse time to lose both his key forwards, Vitali Rodinov and Gennadi Bliznyuk to suspension. Regular back-ups Maksim Skavysh and Vladislav Mirchev will be favourites to step in and cover respectively but other than that, the 31 year old coach, the youngest in Champions League history should have no other major absentees.

Probable Starting XI (4-4-1-1): Veremko – Khagush, Sosnovsky, Rzhevsky, Yurevich – Nekhaichik, Sivakov, Krivets, Stasevich – Skavysh – Mirchev

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Real Madrid

Champions League top scorer, Raúl has yet to hit his stride in terms of form and fitness in La Liga but when it comes to Europe, he always has that knack to outshine everyone when least expected. All he needs is a goal or two to whet his scoring appetite and he will fancy his chances of doing that against the Belarusian minnows.

BATE Borisov

Without Rodinov and Bliznyuk, BATE will be supremely blunted upfront. But at least they still have influential midfielder Sergei Krivets. The self-confessed Real Madrid fan is a box-to-box player, someone capable of pulling defensive duties but also adept in driving forward with his excellent passing range and shooting abilities.