Veteran striker Raul Gonzalez scored twice but Real Madrid still lost ground in the Spanish title race after they were held at home 2-2 by Espanyol on Sunday.

A below-par Madrid went behind from the penalty spot after 21 minutes with Raul Tamudo firing home after he was felled by Gabriel Heinze.

Raul, returning to the side after being rested for the Champions League clash against Zenit St. Petersburg, equalised with a header four minutes later.

On the half-hour, Luis Garcia restored Espanyol's advantage, scoring from close range after good build up play from Roman Martinez, Tamudo and Ivan de la Pena.

But then Raul was on hand to bring Real back level at the end of the first half.

There were chances for both sides after the break notably for Luis Garcia and Nene for Espanyol, while Real's Ruud van Nistelrooy also had a shot saved by keeper Carlos Kameni.

The result brought Real's six-match winning streak to an end and left them in fifth place, three points behind leaders Valencia who beat Valladolid 1-0.

Real coach Bernd Schuster felt his team missed Dutch star Arjen Robben, who has been struggling with injury and was not brought into the action until late into the game.

"In the first half with Van Nistelrooy, Raul and Gonzalo Higuain it was not easy," said Schuster.

" Robben's state meant that I didn't start with him and we lacked depth. I tried options with Ruben de la Red and Rafael van der Vaart and I wanted to have the options of Robben and Wesley Sneijder for the second half."

"After the break we deserved to win, we were superior and we had chances but Kameni did very well and our finishing wasn't good."

Espanyol coach Bartolome Marquez was satisfied with the point.

"We have been brave by attacking as always. Against Barcelona, we had four strikers. I have a philosophy and I am ready to die by it."

A Manuel Fernandes strike in the 54th minute proved enough for a lethargic Valencia to reclaim top spot with 16 points.

"It was a very even game but I think that the result was fair. There were openings for both sides but not very clear chances," said Valencia coach Unai Emery.

Villarreal also have 16 points after a 2-1 win on Saturday against rock-bottom Real Betis but are in second spot on goal difference.

Earlier Sunday, Sevilla enjoyed a 4-0 mauling of Athletic Bilbao to move into third place on 14 points.

The home side went ahead after 26 minutes through Frederic Kanoute and then five minutes before the interval Renato Santos doubled their advantage.

The best goal of the game came after 75 minutes in a well-worked counter-attack with Adriano Correia providing the finishing touch. Substitute Ernesto Chevanton wrapped up the game with ten minutes to go.

"It's going well but it's still early days. We maintained a good rhythm and that is what we need to continue doing but the season will be long and hard," said Manolo Jimenez, who is the first Sevilla coach to string together eleven matches without defeat.

Barcelona are in fourth spot on 13 points after their 6-1 thrashing of Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

Sporting Gijon moved off the bottom with a surprise 2-0 victory over Real Mallorca with goals from Carmelo Gonzalez and Roberto Canella.

Pierre Webo added to Mallorca's woes when he missed a penalty.

Malaga made easy work of struggling Recreativo Huelva, beating their Andalusian neighbours 4-0.

Eliseu Pereira dos Santos scored the first of his brace in the opening minute and then goals either side of the interval from Nabil Baha and Duda Valente firmly placed Malaga in the driving seat.

They finished off the scoring just after the hour mark with Eliseu's second.

Racing Santander scored in the second minute of injury time at Osasuna to claim an important 1-0 victory with Juan Varela grabbing the winner.

Almeria came from two goals down to claim a point in a 2-2 draw away to Getafe.

Ikechukwu Uche and Francisco Casquero appeared to have secured the win before Almeria hit back in the final minutes through Alvaro Negredo and Jose Chico.

An early goal from Angel Lafita after 13 minutes was enough for Deportivo la Coruna to beat Numancia and end their run of a month without a win.

While Barcelona and Atlético Madrid square off on Saturday in the first of two tantalizing Catalan-Madrid derbies this weekend, Real Madrid will play host to Espanyol in Sunday’s intriguing main event clash. To Buy Or Not To Buy Ever since the opening day defeat at bogey team, Deportivo La Coruña, Real Madrid have strung together six successive wins, four of them in the league. But despite their impressive run, they’re still unable to dislodge stubborn Villarreal and Valencia from the top of the standings. But their constantly improving performance and results on the pitch have taken precedence over their position in the table and rightly so. The squad as a whole have gelled together brilliantly and the pre-season transfer shenanigans appear to be a forgotten issue. There’s even talk of the club looking to strengthen the squad in positions that doesn’t involve the name Cristiano Ronaldo. The ‘White House’ hierarchy are looking to bring in more defensive reinforcements despite having more top class defenders in their ranks at present than the last five seasons put together. The next few weeks should give the club an indication whether or not they need to further boost their depth during the winter period, and if so, how much. They are now approaching the ever crucial phase of the first half of the season as the fixtures – at club and international level – start flying in thick and fast and the opposition becomes tougher… as the upcoming appointments with Atlético Madrid and Juventus will suggest. First, Los Merengues must negotiate Espanyol in a game that will bring back fond memories of recent meetings at the Bernabéu. In the last two terms, the pair twice met towards the end of the campaign and the capital giants won both encounters in heart-stopping fashion en route to the league title. This season’s meeting comes a tad earlier – by about eight months – and although it will not lead the men in white to any accolades, it could be one that propels them to the top of the table. Still Adjusting After reigning victorious in both their opening two games of the season, Espanyol have now failed to win any of their last three. The most painful of those results to accept was the controversial, last minute 1-2 defeat at home to Barcelona last weekend in the Catalan derbi. To add further insult, the club could now be in trouble for the crowd violence that transpired at the Montjuïc stands during the game, despite the fact that it was the travelling fans who instigated the mayhem by throwing a lit flare towards rival supporters. But back to football on the pitch. It’s clear that new coach Bartolomé Tintín Márquez has yet to get his team going. Los Periquitos did not lose as many of their key players as they thought they would during the hectic summer trade period. They did, however, bring in a fair share of reinforcements but other than that, they have maintained the core group of players from the past two years or so. If anything, it is the coach’s change of philosophy, ideas and system that is forcing the team to spend more time than needed to adjust and assimilate. He has often reiterated his desire for the Blanc-i-Blau to play attacking football but judging by their need to rely on their defensive, counter-attacking approach to get results, it’s obvious that the team is still trying to find their footing. It’s unfortunate that they have been dealt this impossible sequence of games at this stage of the campaign: Sevilla, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Villarreal are not particularly a set of opponents you want to face in succession to polish up on pre-season lessons. But if they can weather this storm, they can start to get their campaign back on track again in the coming few weeks. FORM GUIDE Real Madrid Sep 30 Zenit St. Petersburg 1-2 Real Madrid (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE) Sep 27 Real Betis 1-2 Real Madrid (LA LIGA) Sep 24 Real Madrid 7-1 Sporting Gijón (LA LIGA) Sep 21 Racing Santander 0-2 Real Madrid (LA LIGA) Sep 17 Real Madrid 2-0 BATE Borisov (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE) RCD Espanyol Sep 27 Espanyol 1-2 FC Barcelona (LA LIGA) Sep 24 Sevilla FC 2-0 Espanyol (LA LIGA) Sep 21 Espanyol 1-1 Getafe (LA LIGA) Sep 14 Recreativo Huelva 0-1 Espanyol (LA LIGA) Aug 31 Espanyol 1-0 Real Valladolid (LA LIGA) TEAM NEWS Real Madrid Leftback Marcelo is suspended following his sending off at Betis last week. Wesley Sneijder has completed the rehabilitation on his damaged cruciate knee ligament he suffered two months ago but Schuster has hinted that he may give the Dutchman an extra few weeks to rest so that he, along with Guti and Fernando Gago, will be 100% fit to take on city neighbours Atlético Madrid on October 18. Captain Raúl, rested in midweek Champions League, should return to the starting line-up and that will mean one of either Arjen Robben or Gonzalo Higuaín will be relegated to the bench. At the other end, Fabio Cannavaro could also be rested and if Schuster does take that decision, then Christoph Metzelder should slot in at centreback. Probable Starting XI (4-3-3): Casillas – Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro/Metzelder, Pepe, Heinze – Van der Vaart, Diarrà, De la Red – Higuaín, Van Nistelrooy, Raul (c) RCD Espanyol Winger Nené has been cleared to play after his second yellow card against Barcelona last weekend, which resulted in his sending off, was withdrawn by the Spanish Competition Committee. French defender Grégory Béranger has recovered from a knee injury and along with Rufete, they are both available for selection. But Steve Finnan, Valdo and Marc Torrejón are all sidelined with various ailments. Inspirational playmaker, Iván de la Peña has recovered from his muscle injury but it remains to be seen if coach Tintín Márquez deems him fit enough to make the team. Former Madrid youth team player José Callejón is ineligible to play at the Bernabéu with another club for the first two years of his departure due to a clause on his contract. Probable Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Kameni – Sergio Sánchez, Pareja, Jarque, Chica – Moisés, Román Martínez – Ángel, Luis García, Nené – Raúl Tamudo PLAYERS TO WATCH Real Madrid After putting in a stunning performance a week and a half ago against Sporting Gijón, Raúl went quiet again last Saturday against Betis. After being given a chance to rest midweek against Zenit St. Petersburg, the captain will be fully charged again physically and mentally and with the support of the Bernabéu faithful, he will be eager to get back on the scoresheet. RCD Espanyol Nené has a tendency to do well at the Bernabéu, at least with his previous clubs. His speed down the left wing will be crucial for Espanyol if they want to exploit their opposition’s sometimes careless backline. Along with Luis García, who is always an ever-present threat, the duo will be the team’s creative input.

According to Diario Sport, Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón is thinking once more of life after Fabio Cannavaro, and is thus looking for an additional centre-back. Argentine international Ezequiel Garay is largely seen as Cannavaro's successor in a white shirt; the newly-signed Madrid man is on loan at Racing, but his arrival at the Bernabéu in summer should coincide with Fabio's departure. The veteran Italian's contract runs out midway through 2009, and though Garay will most likely serve as a straight swap, there is still room for improvement in a Madrid back line that some say lacks depth in the middle. Thus it is thought that Madrid are seeking an option to compete with Pepe and Garay for a starting berth, and at present there are two main targets. The first, Daniel Agger, is a 23-year-old Dane who plays for Liverpool. Rumours of his unrest at Anfield abound, but while these have been downplayed by coach Rafael Benítez it remains the case that he has had few starting places this season. His contract on Merseyside expires in 2010. Another option is Per Mertesacker of Werder Bremen. 24 years of age, the former Hannover man is a first choice at the Weserstadion and remains under contract until 2012. Consequently he may be a great deal more expensive than Agger, but he remains highly regarded by some observers in Spain.

Real Madrid are reportedly having second thoughts about allowing Wesley Sneijder to make his much anticipated comeback this Sunday.

Sneijder has remained on track to make a return for Los Merengues following his cruciate knee ligament injury two months ago.

The Oranje playmaker had earmarked Sunday’s clash against Espanyol as the date for his comeback and after successfully keeping his promise of cutting his time off from three months down to just two, his re-appearance now looks imminent.

Madrid’s medical team have confirmed that the player is in perfect condition to return to football and the only real concern is a relapse if the club do rush his comeback.

But Real Madrid are thinking twice about declaring him fit to play against the Blanc-i-Blau, as they fear the possibility of the dreaded call up to the Dutch national team for the international break after this weekend.

Netherlands coach Bert van Maarwijk is believed to be eager to have Sneijder in the squad for his side’s World Cup qualifying games on October 11 and 15 and Los Merengues are understandably reluctant to release the 24 year old as he runs the risk of getting injured again.

At this stage, Madrid are somewhat confident van Maarwijk will overlook the midfielder for this round of international games but the blancos will not hesitate to reignite the club versus country row if they are forced to hand over the player.

 

Ramón Calderón believes that if Real Madrid can score 80 goals this season then they will retain the title and is confident that almost half of that tally will come from three midfield players. The Spanish club's president flew into St Petersburg for the game against Zenit on Monday and gave his prediction to the media about the club's chances of making it a hat-trick of championships wins. Despite Bernd Schuster's insistence in the summer that another striker was required, Calderón thinks that there is more than enough talent in the club's midfield. "I think that between Van der Vaart, De la Red and Sneijder they will score 30 goals. That is a good amount. I think they will score at least ten each", he told reporters. Real Madrid netted 84 goals last season as they won the title and have already scored 16 this term to lead the way by four goals from Barcelona and Villarreal. A similar end-of-season tally should be enough to ensure that Schuster wins his second consecutive title and Madrid's third, according to the mathematical Calderón. "With 80 goals we will be league champions again," he stated.

Real Madrid secured a hard-fought three points in St Petersburg as an own goal and an effort from Ruud van Nistelrooy gave them a 2-1 win. The hosts did everything they could in the second half to draw level, but could not find a way through.

Real Madrid were desperate to end their seven game winless streak away from home and they found themselves on the right track when they went infront through an own goal by Zenit centreback Hubocan.

Danny managed to equalize for the hosts in the 24^th minute but all their hardwork went straight down the drain when the visitors restored their lead just six minutes later through goalscorer extra-ordinaire, van Nistelrooy.

The champions of Russia will lock horns with the champions of Spain on Tuesday to get Matchweek Two of Europe’s blue ribbon competition underway in an earlier than usual kick-off.

Climbing To The Zenith

Zenit announced themselves in Russian football when they won their first ever league crown in 2007. And it didn’t take them long to herald their arrival in the continent when they stormed past some of Europe’s experienced campaigners to lift the UEFA Cup earlier this year in May and then followed that up by adding the UEFA Supercup to their trophy collection a month ago.

What’s even more impressive is that they are a side who are not afraid to play attractive, attacking football to get results and achieve success. It’s an admirable approach for a team who, prior to their triumphs in Europe, were still very much considered a minnow outside of their own country.

Their coach, Dick Advocaat has instilled a typically Dutch methodology to their game. Defend as one, attack as one, they play a brand of slick, one-touch passing football but they also have the individual brilliance who can single-handedly turn games around.

Zenit are the first Russian team without the word ‘Moscow’ attached to their club name to play in the Champions League group stage. But the Sine-belo-golubye appear slightly out of their depth as they find it difficult competing in two major tournaments.

They are struggling domestically and they look in danger of missing out on European football altogether next season. They currently lie in sixth place in the Rosgosstrakh Russian Championship, a massive 14 points behind runaway leaders, Rubin Kazan, seven away from the runners-up spot – which would give them entry to the next Champions League preliminaries – and two shy of the UEFA Cup qualification zone with just seven rounds to go.

Although they have a game in hand against most of their direct rivals, the distractions of the Champions League would almost certainly cancel out any advantage they may have. But last weekend’s impressive 0-3 win over Lokomotiv Moscow has given them the morale boost they have been looking for to take into the clash against the nine-time European champions.

Two Shades Of White

There’s no secret that Real Madrid are desperate to attain the Holy Grail that is ‘Number 10’. They have failed miserably in recent years despite promise of success but many a fan and pundit believe this could be their season.

One of the signs to back up that claim is that Los Blancos are finally showing that they have two very different dimensions to their game: the side that knows how to attack and play good football – like the one that devoured Sporting Gijón 7-1 – and the side that is full of fighting spirit and a never-say-die attitude, such as the gritty team that pinched a 1-2 win at Real Betis a few days ago.

The victory at the Ruiz de Lopera was their fifth win in succession in all competitions this campaign and while the results continue to fall their way nicely, they are also going from strength to strength performance-wise.

Recent games have demonstrated that coach, Bernd Schuster has mastered the art of altering his tactics, strategy and formation based on the opponents and the circumstances, unlike the one-track Madrid team over the last five years or so that clung to the simple-minded philosophy of out-scoring an opponent.

The Spanish giants will use current European champions, Manchester United as a good case study to illustrate how a team needs to have a multi-faceted game plan to achieve glory. Last season, the Red Devils hardly looked convincing on their travels all competition long but they always did enough to get their desired result. 

And it’s a good thing, too, that Schuster has taken the last few La Liga outings to fine-tune the team’s away game stratagem. The merengues have not won on the road in this competition in almost two years. Their last triumph was in October 2006 when they beat Steaua Bucharest 1-4 and ever since then, they have drawn three and lost three.

Madrid do not have the best record against Russian opposition in Russia either and they will need to implement and execute that game plan swiftly and flawlessly if they are to snap their poor away form against a very ambitious Zenit side.

FORM GUIDE

Zenit St. Petersburg

Sep 27 Lokomotiv Moscow 0-3 Zenit (ROSGOSSTRAKH)

Sep 21 Zenit 1-3 CSKA Moscow FC (ROSGOSSTRAKH)

Sep 17 Juventus 1-0 Zenit (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)

Sep 13 Terek Groznyi 1-4 Zenit (ROSGOSSTRAKH)

Aug 29 Manchester Utd 1-2 Zenit (UEFA SUPER CUP)

Real Madrid

Sep 27 Real Betis 1-2 Real Madrid (LA LIGA)

Sep 24 Real Madrid 7-1 Sporting Gijón (LA LIGA)

Sep 21 Racing Santander 0-2 Real Madrid (LA LIGA)

Sep 17 Real Madrid 2-0 BATE Borisov (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)

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

TEAM NEWS

Zenit St. Petersburg

Coach Advocaat does not have any suspension issues to worry about and he will also welcome back a few important figures. Midfielder Roman Shirokov has recovered from a calf injury and returned to training at the weekend while Turkish forward Fatih Tekke is also back in contention after shrugging off a thigh ailment.

The pair could still be lacking in match fitness while Belgian defender Nicolas Lombaerts is still sidelined with a long term knee problem.

Probable Starting XI (4-3-2-1): Malafeev – Anyukov, Krizanac, Puygrenier, Siri – Zyryanov, Tymoschuk (c) Denisov – Danny, Arshavin - Pogrebnyak

Real Madrid

Pepe and Rubén de la Red were suspended for the opening game against BATE due to sanctions carried over from last season but both will be available again for selection. Fabio Cannavaro should also be reinstated to the team after being rested at the weekend but midfield trio Wesley Sneijder, Fernando Gago and Guti are all still out injured.

Schuster’s biggest headache is to decide who between four key players he has to drop to from the attacking trident. Raúl could be the one to take the sacrifice this time after starting the last four games.

Probable Starting XI (4-3-3): Casillas (c) – Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro, Pepe, Heinze – Van der Vaart, Diarrà, De la Red – Higuaín, Van Nistelrooy, Robben

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Zenit St. Petersburg

No prizes for guessing who the two big key players will be for Zenit. Playmakers Andrei Arshavin and Danny, who will likely feed off the lone striker, are two very dangerous and influential figures and they will be relied on heavily to bring mayhem to the Real Madrid backline.

Real Madrid

The constant unsung hero Mahamadou Diarrà will have the privilege of disrupting the Arshavin-Danny combination. He will be helped by the versatile Rubén de la Red but the youngster will also be in charge of bringing the ball forward and conducting the team’s attacking play from midfield. It’s a massive undertaking for the 23 year old.

Real Betis looked as though they were going to do to Madrid what they did to Barça just four days ago. Coming back from behind to force a draw, they once again conceded the heartbreaking winner late in the game. Casillas – 7: Made a number of superb reflex saves. Even denied Sergio García from the spot but there was little he could do to stop the follow up. Sergio Ramos – 7: Had an intriguing battle with Sergio García. Couldn’t bomb forward as much as he would have liked as a result, but always looked solid. Had to contribute more in attack once Madrid were down to ten.Pepe – 8: Held the backline together. Madrid would have been lost without him and to a certain extent, Sergio Ramos. Perhaps as the lead defender, he should have been first to Sergio García’s blocked penalty to clear it.Heinze – 6.5: Stray passes, mistimed tackles, poor positioning… another typical day in the office for the Argentine. Did score the opening goal, though, with a great header.Marcelo – 4: Made a few clumsy challenges, one of which, unfortunately resulted in a straight red card.Van der Vaart – 6.5: His performance understandably looked a bit jaded. His deliveries weren’t as sharp and his off-the-ball movement wasn’t as spirited, although his pin-point freekick found Heinze for the opening goal.Diarrà – 7: As usual, a rock in the heart of midfield and won every battle there was to win, but he is far too slow when it comes to distributing the ball out of defence. De La Red – 7.5: Marshalled the midfield well and dictated the pace and direction of Madrid’s attacks. A very worthy successor to Guti when the time comes.Robben – 7.5: A real livewire in the opening exchanges, but faded away terribly as the game wore on. He did win the freekick that led to the opener and it was through ball that fed RVN’s goal.Van Nistelrooy – 7.5: Had a few decent half chances throughout the evening but in typical predatory style, he tucked away his best opportunity to secure all three points for his side. Raúl – 5: Barely registered a shot at goal. Strung a few passes together at most. Another quiet, lonely evening for the captain. Substitutes:Torres – 6.5: Had to get up to speed quickly to help stem the tide when Betis were on the ascendancy.Javi García – 5: Brought on to freshen up what must have been a tiring midfield line.

Drenthe – 5.5: Drew the foul that got Sergio García sent off, which may very well have allowed Madrid to score the winner.es the performers on the pitch.

After demolishing Sporting Gijón 7-1 on Wednesday night one might think that Real Madrid would stick with the same team for this weekends match against Real Betis, however, it appears not.

Manager Bernd Schuster has decided to leave out both Fabio Cannavaro and Michel Salgado from the squad that travel to Sevilla and in their place return Christoph Metzelder and Sergio Ramos.

So far the German has been very keen to shuffle his defence, with none of the four mentioned above having playing more than two league games to date.

Also out of the squad are the injured Fernando Gago, Guti and Wesley Sneijder, although the latter has trained with a ball and the rest of the squad after his knee injury. Schuster has decided not to risk him though for this trip to Real Betis which could see Real Madrid go top of the league for the first time this season.

Last seasons league champions have won three games in a row after losing their first match to Deportivo La Coruña and they will no doubt be keen to pick up all three points against a struggling Betis side on Saturday.

Real Madrid squad to face Real Betis: Casillas, Dudek, Torres, Pepe, Metzelder, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Heinze, Javi García, Drenthe, Van der Vaart, Diarra, De la Red, Robben, Raúl, Higuain, Van Nistelrooy, Saviola

There is a sense of déjà vu at the Betis camp with the way they have started this 08/09 campaign. Just like last term, and even perhaps the one before, there was a lot of promise and hope of success throughout the pre-season simply because of the team that they had managed to assemble during the summer months.

But once the real competition gets underway, the team underperforms horribly. They have started this season in almost exactly the same fashion as they did the last: drawing two and losing two in their first four games. The Andalucians didn’t register a win until Matchweek Six last year and the parallels could continue this campaign as they take on a rampaging Real Madrid on Saturday for Round Five.

However, Los Verdiblancos have had this tendency in recent meetings to come from behind against the two superpowers of La Liga, Barcelona and Real Madrid, to force an upset result. They came from behind to inflict a surprise defeat on the pair last term and it almost happened again three days ago at the Camp Nou when Paco Chaparro’s men rallied from two goals down to tie the contest at 2-2, but eventually succumbed to an Eidur Gudjohnsen winner.

Speaking of last season and of victories, the Andaluz side have not won a competitive match since the 19^th of April 2007. Their last five games of the 07/08 program ended with four draws and one loss and, as mentioned before, their first four outings of this campaign have yet to yield a win.

Add to that, Betis also have a poor record against Madrid. Their 2-1 home triumph over the merengues last season was their first ever win against the capital side in 17 attempts in all competitions over the last seven years. It’s not the kind of statistic you would want to take into a game against an opposition who is hitting form at the right time.

Seventh Heaven

Indeed, Los Blancos are on a wave of high after their 7-1 annihilation of Sporting Gijón in midweek. Granted, the newly-promoted outfit were completely out of sorts and out of their depth but the real highlight of Madrid’s performance, the scoreline aside, was the impressive shots to goal ratio: 16 shots, 12 on target, seven scored.

It’s a much more effective display compared to the tally that they had a week prior in the Champions League against BATE Borisov, where they amassed 29 shots at goal, but just nine on target and only two ended up in the back of the net.

The improvement in terms of cohesion and understanding between the players has also been evident. Everyone on the pitch appears to have their frequencies finally in tune and collectively, they are playing like a team again: forwards and midfielders helping to defend, defenders and midfielders helping to attack. If they can carry on in this vein, their failed summer transfer market dealings might just be forgotten and forgiven.

The hazard for coach Bernd Schuster this weekend is that his players will have one eye on the very complicated trip to Russia to face UEFA Cup champions Zenit St. Petersburg on Tuesday in the Champions League.

The German could be tempted to continue rotating his squad ever so subtly, just as he did against Sporting, but he is aware that Betis are a dangerous outfit, in spite of what their form guide may suggest.

The ultimate confidence booster for the reigning league champions will be to head into their clash with Zenit as the new La Liga leaders. There’s a chance of that happening if other results go their way but first, they will have to beat Betis in Saturday’s early kick-off.

FORM GUIDEReal Betis

Sep 24 FC Barcelona 3-2 Real Betis (LA LIGA)

Sep 21 Real Betis 0-0 Sevilla FC (LA LIGA)

Sep 14 Getafe 0-0 Real Betis (LA LIGA)

Aug 31 Real Betis 0-1 Recreativo Huelva (LA LIGA)

Aug 23 Almería 3-1 Real Betis (MEMORIAL JUAN ROJAS) Real Madrid

Sep 24 Real Madrid 7-1 Sporting Gijón (LA LIGA)

Sep 21 Racing Santander 0-2 Real Madrid (LA LIGA)

Sep 17 Real Madrid 2-0 BATE Borisov (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)

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

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

Striker Xisco is out with an ankle injury but he has the good fortune of avoiding the operating table and will thus require only six weeks to recuperate. Fellow forward Edu has made a complete recovery from his muscular ailment but he is nowhere near match fit.

The Brazilian has earmarked next week’s clash with Villarreal as the earliest possible return date, although the following match against Mallorca looks more probable. Winger David Odonkor is the only other injury casualty and he is sidelined for the rest of the year.Probable Starting XI (4-1-4-1): Casto – Nélson, Arzu, Juanito (c), Fernando Vega – Aurélio – Sergio García, Emana, Capi, Mark González – Pavone Real MadridMidfielders Guti and Wesley Sneijder should be ready to return to action next week as they stay on schedule to recover from their respective injuries. Fernando Gago, however, is still at least three weeks away from any sort of comeback as he nurses a thigh muscle damage.Sergio Ramos and Ruud van Nistelrooy, who were both rested in the midweek win against Sporting, look certain to be reinstated to the first XI, while Gabriel Heinze could also make the starting berth either at leftback or as a centre half.

Probable Starting XI (4-3-3): Casillas – Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro, Pepe, Heinze – Van der Vaart, Diarrà, De la Red – Higuaín, Van Nistelrooy, Raul (c)

PLAYERS TO WATCHReal BetisSergio García showed flashes of brilliance against Barcelona, eventhough it may only have been for nothing more than a quick ten, fifteen minute spell. But he is showing signs of improvement as he continues to settle in to his new surroundings and he’ll be using this big game as a springboard to kick-start his season and indeed his career as a Bético. Emana has also looked impressive thus far. Although he is still not yet the finished article, the potential certainly is there.Real Madrid

The likes of Raúl and van der Vaart will be the key figures, should they play, after their stunning midweek exploits. But the one man to keep an eye out for will be Rubén de la Red. The youngster has been amazing in the few games where he has been given the chance to shine, but he knows that he will not have too many more opportunities to impress once the midfield regulars return from their injuries and his playing time begin to dwindle.