Bundesliga » News » Football: Pellegrini readies Man City for Bayern test

Football: Pellegrini readies Man City for Bayern testBayern-Trainer Pep Guardiola wartet auf den Achtelfinal-Gegner

Manuel Pellegrini faces the first major test of his Champions League credentials as Manchester City manager on Wednesday when his side tackle defending champions Bayern Munich at the Etihad Stadium.

City have been eliminated from the Champions League at the group phase in the past two seasons and one of the reasons why Pellegrini was selected to succeed Roberto Mancini was his track record at continental level.

Real Madrid went out in the last 16 under Pellegrini’s stewardship in 2010, but he steered modest Villarreal to the semi-finals in 2006 and led Malaga to the quarter-finals last season.

In all-conquering German and European champions Bayern, Pellegrini could not have asked for a more demanding first European home fixture with City.

However, having worked in Spain for the duration of Bayern coach Pep Guardiola’s spectacular four-year tenure at Barcelona, the 60-year-old Chilean believes he knows how to get the better of him.

“It is very difficult at this moment to improve with Bayern because they won the last three competitions, but he (Guardiola) will find a way because he is a very good manager,” said Pellegrini.

“He knows the way we play, so he will try different things. But we know things about Guardiola, too. I lived in Spain nine years so I know exactly the way Guardiola plays.”

Both teams opened their Group D campaigns with 3-0 victories, Bayern overwhelming CSKA Moscow at the Allianz Arena and City scoring three second-half goals away to Czech champions Viktoria Pilsen.

City blew a 2-1 lead in a 3-2 loss at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday, but Pellegrini will hope to recall David Silva and Sergio Aguero after both players missed the trip to Villa Park through injury.

Captain Vincent Kompany has downplayed the significance of the defeat, which left the 2012 English champions five points behind early leaders Arsenal after six games.

“We have lost games before. Every team in the world has lost games,” he said.

“It is about the reaction, what you do next game. If anything, I think we will be more motivated now to make it right.”

Bayern have experienced no such problems in the early stages of their Bundesliga title defence, having won six and drawn one of their first seven games to leave them level on points with leaders Borussia Dortmund.

However, Guardiola’s attempts to introduce a new 4-1-4-1 formation have not proved an unqualified success and his side laboured to overcome Wolfsburg in Saturday’s 1-0 victory in Munich.

The Catalan coach acknowledged the teething problems after the game, admitting that Bayern need to “find solutions to a few problems”.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, though, says City’s possession-oriented style could unwittingly hand Bayern a chance to shine.

“We’ll meet them eye to eye,” said the Germany international.

“City are a team who like to have the ball. They want to control the game and not just hit us on the counter-attack, like all our other opponents.

“That will give us a chance to show our qualities.”

Guardiola could call upon close-season signing Mario Gotze, who was an unused substitute against Wolfsburg after overcoming an ankle problem he sustained in August’s UEFA Super Cup success against Chelsea.

The sides last met in the group phase two years ago, when Bayern won 2-0 in Munich and then lost by the same scoreline in the return game after they had already secured qualification for the round of 16.

City missed out on a last-16 place by only a point that season, but last term they finished eight points below the qualification berths after failing to win a single game against Dortmund, Real Madrid and Ajax.

City have not lost a European home game for five years, but Bayern enjoyed success on their two trips to England last season, beating Arsenal in the last 16 before overcoming Dortmund in the all-German final at Wembley.

Bundesliga » News » Football: Pellegrini, Guardiola meet again, United face tough test

Football: Pellegrini, Guardiola meet again, United face tough testBayern lässt gegen Leverkusen Punkte liegen

Manchester City’s home clash with Pep Guardiola’s reigning European champions Bayern Munich will capture the imagination of most on Wednesday evening, while the pressure is on David Moyes as Manchester United face Shakhtar Donetsk.

AFP Sport looks ahead to all eight of Wednesday’s fixtures on matchday two:

Group A

Bayer Leverkusen (GER) v Real Sociedad (ESP)

Both Leverkusen and Real Sociedad are looking to get their campaigns up and running after suffering defeats on matchday one. Leverkusen went down 4-2 to Manchester United at Old Trafford in their opening game, while the Basque side lost 2-0 at home against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Sami Hyypia’s team will fancy their chances of registering all three points at the BayArena, however, fresh as they are from a third straight Bundesliga win on Saturday against Hannover. While they are enjoying their best start to a league season, Real, in contrast, have gone six games without a win, their worst sequence of results in two years, and coach Jagoba Arrasate is without Esteban Granero and the influential Xabi Prieto for the trip to Germany.

Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) v Manchester United (ENG)

A trip to deepest Ukraine is surely the last thing that David Moyes wanted as the pressure builds on the Scotsman following Manchester United’s worst start to a domestic campaign in 24 years. United’s 2-1 home loss to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday was their third defeat already in just six Premier League games, but at least Moyes oversaw a 4-2 win against Bayer Leverkusen in his opening Champions League group game in charge a fortnight ago.

Wayne Rooney scored twice in that game and Moyes – who has admitted his side lack sufficient world-class talent to win the Champions League – will need the England star at his best in the Donbass Arena.

Shakhtar needed a late comeback to draw 2-2 away to unheralded local rivals Metalurg at the weekend but their European opener was an impressive 2-0 win at Real Sociedad and they have previous against English opposition, beating Chelsea at home last season.

Group B

Real Madrid (ESP) v FC Copenhagen (DEN)

After the humiliation of losing the Madrid derby at the weekend, Real coach Carlo Ancelotti knows the importance of getting back to winning ways in Europe.

The visit of a Copenhagen side who sit second from bottom of the Danish league and lost 3-2 to Brondby at the weekend should provide the perfect opportunity for the Spanish giants, although Stale Solbakken’s men did hold Juventus in their opening Group B game.

Iker Casillas will make his first appearance at the Santiago Bernabeu in almost nine months as Ancelotti again gives the nod to the Spain captain ahead of Diego Lopez in goal in Europe. Gareth Bale could also make his first start at home for his new club, who thumped Galatasaray 6-1 away last time out.

Juventus (ITA) v Galatasaray (TUR)

After being held by Copenhagen two weeks ago, Italian champions Juventus chase a first win in Group B as they play host to Galatasaray, who are seeking an improvement on their 6-1 thumping at the hands of Real Madrid.

Antonio Conte’s Juve, who won the last of their two European Cups in 1996, beat city rivals Torino 1-0 at the weekend thanks to a Paul Pogba strike and remain unbeaten in all competitions this season, even if they trail Roma by two points at the top of Serie A.

The Turks come into the game with a new coach who is familiar with taking on Juve. Former Lazio, Inter Milan and Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini was on Monday appointed as the replacement for the sacked Fatih Terim. His remit is to revive a side who sit in mid-table in their domestic league with just one win from five games.

Group C

Anderlecht (BEL) v Olympiakos (GRE)

Belgian champions Anderlecht and Greek title-holders Olympiakos are, on paper, the outsiders to qualify from Group C and both were beaten on matchday one. Anderlecht went down 2-0 away to Benfica while Olympiakos were outclassed in a 4-1 home loss to Paris Saint-Germain.

The Belgians have a proud history and beat AEK Athens home and away when they last faced Greek opponents in the Europa League two years ago, but John Van den Brom’s men are fourth in their domestic Pro League, nine points behind leaders Standard, and appear ill-equipped to make an impact in this competition. Olympiakos, who have lost 99 times in Europe, are top of the Greek Super League without defeat and may fancy their chances of recording an away win here.

Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) v Benfica (POR)

Paris Saint-Germain underlined their status as Group C favourites by thumping Olympiakos in Greece two weeks ago, and can take a big step towards qualifying for the last 16 by beating Benfica at the Parc des Princes.

Laurent Blanc’s side have struggled to convince so far this season, but remain unbeaten in all competitions while Benfica – who beat Anderlecht 2-0 in their opening game – are only fifth in the Portuguese top flight, five points behind leaders Porto.

However, the Lisbon club can expect a warm backing in the French capital, which is home to a large Portuguese population. PSG will be without captain Thiago Silva due to injury as they chase revenge for a defeat to the same team in the Europa League last 16 in 2011.

Group D

CSKA Moscow (RUS) v Viktoria Pilsen (CZE)

The poor state of the Arena Khimki pitch in Moscow led to this match being moved 700 kilometres to St Petersburg. CSKA and the Czech champions both lost their opening games and are expected to fight it out for third place in Group D behind Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

CSKA’s preparations for this encounter have not been the best – they lost 2-0 at Terek Grozny at the weekend and have failed to win, or even score, in their last three domestic matches. In contrast, Pavel Vrba’s Pilsen are still unbeaten in the Czech league and have won five and lost two of their last seven European away games.

Manchester City (ENG) v Bayern Munich (GER)

This encounter at the Etihad Stadium promises to be fascinating, with City manager Manuel Pellegrini coming up against Bayern’s Pep Guardiola again. The pair are familiar with one another from their time in Spain, in particular when they occupied the dugouts at Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively in 2009-10.

The two Group D favourites meet on the back of wins in their opening matches, with City triumphing away to Viktoria Pilsen while Bayern beat CSKA Moscow at home.

Goals from David Silva and Yaya Toure gave City a 2-0 win when they played host to Bayern in this competition two years ago, but the English side have failed to progress beyond the group stage in either of the last two years while Bayern are the reigning European champions.

Bundesliga » News » Football: Real, Bayer fight to keep Europe dreams alive

Football: Real, Bayer fight to keep Europe dreams aliveKeine Torlinientechnik: Phantomtore soll es weiterhin geben

Bayer Leverkusen host Real Sociedad in the Champions League on Wednesday with both sides aware that they are putting their dreams of reaching the knock-out phase on the line.

“On Wednesday, we have a difficult game in the Champions League, we don’t need to talk about how important that is,” said Leverkusen’s coach, the former Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia.

Leverkusen lost 4-2 to Manchester United at Old Trafford in their opening Group A match a fortnight ago, while Real lost their opener 2-0 at home against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Bayer warmed up for Wednesday’s clash at Leverkusen’s BayArena with a 2-0 win at home to Hanover 96 on Saturday to stay third in the Bundesliga and Hyypia has said his team can do better against Jagoba Arrasate’s Real Sociedad side.

“Defensively we played well for almost the whole 90 minutes, but going forward we can play much better and that’s something we have to look at,” said Hyypia.

According to British media reports, Arsenal are keen to sign Bayer midfielder Lars Bender for 24 million euros (£20m), but Leverkusen have said the Germany star is not for sale. Bender is under contract until June 2017 and has no get-out clause.

While Leverkusen have no significant injury concerns, Real are without captain and playmaker Xabi Prieto, who picked up a hamstring injury in the 4-1 defeat at Barcelona last week.

Attacking midfielder Esteban Granero is another significant absentee, while French winger Antoine Griezmann faces a race to be fit on time.

Mid-table in La Liga, Real have not won since beating Lyon 2-0 away in the Champions League play-offs in August and badly need a win after three defeats and three draws.

Defender Carlos Martinez says that the side who finished fourth in the Spanish league last season to qualify for the Champions League must rediscover their scoring touch soon.

“Last year we started badly too and then look what happened. Then we were scoring with half a chance and right now we need four or five to score, but this will change,” said Martinez, who played in the 1-1 draw at home to Sevilla on Saturday.

“We know that we have a great team.

“The opponents are coming to close down our game, not let us play and try to catch us on the counter-attack, but at the end we were on the verge of winning (against Sevilla).

“Now we need to go to Leverkusen and get something from the game because the group stages are very short and we lost in the first game.

“We will give it our all.”

Champions League » News » Football: PSG measure potential against off-form Benfica

Football: PSG measure potential against off-form BenficaMilan muss vorerst ohne Robinho (r.) auskommen

Outstanding favourites to progress from Champions League Group C, Paris Saint-Germain can take a significant step towards the knockout stages with a win against Benfica at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

This encounter in the French capital brings together one of the most financially powerful institutions in modern football and one of the continent’s grand old names.

Benfica won the last of their two European Cups back in 1962, eight years before PSG came into existence. The French side had rarely looked like fulfilling their huge potential before the Qatari takeover at the Parc des Princes in 2011, but last season they won the Ligue 1 title and reached the Champions League quarter-finals.

Indeed, PSG have changed beyond all recognition since their last meeting with the Eagles, in the last 16 of the Europa League in March 2011. On that occasion, Benfica triumphed 3-2 on aggregate, but Christophe Jallet is the only member of the PSG team that played in the home leg who remains on the staff.

Two and a half years on, the new-look PSG are unbeaten this season under Laurent Blanc, although their performances have rarely been entirely convincing and Saturday’s 2-0 win against Toulouse was not always comfortable.

However, their 4-1 win away to Olympiakos in Greece on matchday one was an exception to the rule, with the unlikely figure of Thiago Motta scoring twice.

PSG face two enormous games in five days with the visit of Benfica being followed by a trip to bitter rivals Marseille on Sunday for what is the biggest fixture in the French calendar.

Blanc’s preparations for the games have been hit by the fact that captain Thiago Silva is sidelined with a thigh injury while there are doubts surrounding the fitness of Alex and Javier Pastore.

As a result, Brazilian youngster Marquinhos, who scored against Olympiakos and against Toulouse, will continue in the heart of the home defence, while Edinson Cavani will return to the attack after being rested at the weekend.

The Uruguayan will hope to further develop his understanding with forward partner Zlatan Ibrahimovic, although that may once again require him to start from a wide position in a 4-3-3 formation.

“On a certain level, there’s a connection between us that comes much more easily than with other players,” Cavani told French television. “I think we just need to work on it a bit harder. We haven’t been playing together for very long, and we haven’t had the proper preparation. Still, we’ve proven that there is a connection between us.”

Benfica comfortably beat Anderlecht 2-0 in Lisbon in their opening group game thanks to goals from Filip Djuricic and Luisao, and they should have a sizeable away following in the French capital, with its enormous Portuguese immigrant population.

Beaten in last season’s Europa League final in heartbreaking fashion by Chelsea, Portugal’s biggest club know that the best way to make up for that would be to reach this season’s Champions League showpiece, which will be played in their own Estadio da Luz.

However, going that far is likely to prove beyond Benfica, who have endured a rather slow start to the season.

Jorge Jesus signed a new contract in the summer despite Benfica coming up just short in their domestic league and cup as well as in Europe. But Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Belenenses left them fifth in their domestic league, five points adrift of Porto at the summit.

And Jesus, who is set to welcome full-back Guilherme Siqueira into his team, is now at the centre of a police investigation following incidents after a recent win against Vitoria Guimaraes.

“We are in a very evenly-balanced group, but PSG are the favourites, so it’s up to the rest of us to try and pick up points where we can,” Jesus admitted at the start of the group campaign, acknowledging that anything other than a home win on Wednesday would be a surprise.

Football » News » Football: Lippi pledges no let-up from Guangzhou

Football: Lippi pledges no let-up from GuangzhouMateusz Klich (r.) in actie tijdens PEC Zwolle – ADO Den Haag. (20-10-2013)

Marcello Lippi has pledged no let-up from a rampant Guangzhou Evergrande as the Chinese champions look to sweep into their first AFC Champions League final on Wednesday.

The World Cup-winning coach watched as his South American-inspired attack poured on four second-half goals against Kashiwa Reysol to win last week’s semi-final first leg 4-1 away from home.

But Lippi said Guangzhou, dubbed “the Manchester United of Asia”, will not ease up in the return fixture as they bid to confirm themselves as China’s first finalists in 15 years.

“We are still on the way to moving on to the next stage. But we want to win to advance to the next round,” said the veteran Italian.

Since Dalian Wanda were runners-up in the 1998 Asian Club Championships, the Champions League’s predecessor, no Chinese club has reached the final.

But Guangzhou have established themselves as favourites to win this year’s competition, a feat that would end China’s long drought stretching back to Liaoning’s victory in 1990.

Since topping a tough Group F, Guangzhou have cruised through the eliminators scoring 15 goals in their five knock-out games so far, against only three conceded.

On Saturday, the team from China’s industrial south hit four more goals in a 4-0 win against Hangzhou Greentown, to stay 11 points clear in the domestic league with a game in hand.

Although Lippi says he’s not complacent about reaching the two-legged final, it would be surprising if he had not already run the rule over Guangzhou’s potential opposition.

South Korean champions FC Seoul hold the edge over Esteghlal after their 2-0 home win last week, but they will be wary ahead of this week’s away leg at Tehran’s intimidating Azadi Stadium.

Led by Montenegrin striker Dejan Damjanovic and Colombian midfielder Mauricio Molina, Seoul have the tools to get the job done against the Iranian title-holders.

But they will rue several missed chances at the end of the first leg, while Esteghlal will take heart from some close opportunities of their own.

“When we go to Tehran, everything will be different,” warned FC Seoul coach Choi Yong-Soo, in a press release from tournament promoters.

“The altitude will have an effect with the ball bouncing differently and with the shooting speed. This is something that we have to think about and prepare for.”

The two teams have previously met at this stage, but at that time both the competition and FC Seoul, then playing as Anyang Cheetahs, had a different name.

In what could be an omen, the South Korean team ousted Esteghlal on that occasion, in the 2002 Asian Club Championship semi-finals, when they went to the Azadi Stadium and won 2-1.

Conference » News » NFL: Results and standings

NFL: Results and standingsWurde von den Bossen zum Rapport bestellt: Crystal-Palace-Coach Ian Holloway

Results and standings in the National Football League

Monday’s results

New Orleans 38 Miami 17

Standings (w l t pct pf pa)

National Football Conference Standings

East Division

Dallas 2 2 0 .500 104 85

Philadelphia 1 3 0 .250 99 138

Washington 1 3 0 .250 91 112

NY Giants 0 4 0 .000 61 146

North Division

Detroit 3 1 0 .750 122 101

Chicago 3 1 0 .750 127 114

Green Bay 1 2 0 .333 96 88

Minnesota 1 3 0 .250 115 123

South Division

New Orleans 4 0 0 1.000 108 55

Carolina 1 2 0 .333 68 36

Atlanta 1 3 0 .250 94 104

Tampa Bay 0 4 0 .000 44 70

West Division

Seattle 4 0 0 1.000 109 47

San Francisco 2 2 0 .500 79 95

Arizona 2 2 0 .500 69 89

St. Louis 1 3 0 .250 69 121

American Football Conference standings

East Division

New England 4 0 0 1.000 89 57

Miami 3 1 0 .750 91 91

NY Jets 2 2 0 .500 68 88

Buffalo 2 2 0 .500 88 93

North Division

Baltimore 2 2 0 .500 91 87

Cincinnati 2 2 0 .500 81 81

Cleveland 2 2 0 .500 64 70

Pittsburgh 0 4 0 .000 69 110

South Division

Indianapolis 3 1 0 .750 105

Tennessee 3 1 0 .750 98 69

Houston 2 2 0 .500 90 105

Jacksonville 0 4 0 .000 31 129

West Division

Denver 4 0 0 1.000 179 91

Kansas City 4 0 0 1.000 102 41

San Diego 2 2 0 .500 108 102

Oakland 1 3 0 .250 71 91

Premier League » News » Burst pipe blamed for Hong Kong pitch fiasco

Burst pipe blamed for Hong Kong pitch fiascoWurde von den Bossen zum Rapport bestellt: Crystal-Palace-Coach Ian Holloway

A burst underground pipe — not heavy rain or an intense fixture schedule — has been fingered as the main culprit for wrecking a Hong Kong pitch that played host to some of the Premier League’s biggest names.

Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland featured in the Barclays Asia Trophy played on a swampy Hong Kong Stadium pitch in July before Manchester United arrived to play local club Kitchee.

Authorities discovered the problem just days before the pre-season tournament began, the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday. Significant areas of the pitch were devoid of grass and days of heavy rain made the quagmire even worse.

At least two players — Jan Vertonghen of Spurs and Matija Nastasic of Manchester City — suffered injuries.

“A pipe from the underground sprinkling system had burst. Unfortunately, this was right under the centre circle and no one knew about it for a long time,” Hong Kong Football Association chairman Brian Leung told the SCMP.

“Every time they turned on the sprinklers, water was gushing out from the broken area, saturating the ground underneath.”

“The excuse that the Hong Kong Stadium pitch couldn’t handle the frequency of matches was a complete red herring,” HKFA chief executive Mark Sutcliffe told the SCMP, adding that the volume of rain was “a contributory factor only”.

The original designer of the pitch was from the Hong Kong Jockey Club and had used the profile for a racetrack, installing irrigation pipes under the playing area instead of the surroundings, the SCMP said, citing a source.

Spurs manger Andre Villas-Boas reacted angrily after seeing defender Vertonghen pick up an ankle injury while Paolo Di Canio, the then-manager of Sunderland, who has since been sacked, branded the surface “a killer pitch”.

“We’re not hiding from the fact that the pitch has been very difficult and we will have to look at the criteria for where we take this next time.” Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore told British media following the tournament.

Hong Kong Stadium also hosted a match between the British and Irish Lions and the Barbarians in June and is the venue for the annual Hong Kong Rugby Sevens tournament.

The pitch was closed for 53 days during which emergency repairs and maintenance were carried out, the SCMP report said.

Football » News » Football: Cameron urges Qatar to learn from London Olympic example

Football: Cameron urges Qatar to learn from London Olympic exampleMateusz Klich (r.) in actie tijdens PEC Zwolle – ADO Den Haag. (20-10-2013)

British Prime Minister David Cameron has said Qatar should follow the example of London’s construction of 2012 London Olympic venues, in which no lives were lost, when building sites for the 2022 football World Cup.

“My message is that they ought to insist on better,” Cameron said following reports migrant workers were dying on building sites for the 2022 tournament.

“We in the Olympics, I think I’m right in saying, managed to build that entire Olympic Park with the best ever record on safety – no-one dying during construction, keeping injuries to an absolute minimum,” Cameron also told BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday.

“It can be done. The British construction industry we really can hold up as a good example to the rest of the world. That gives us an advantage in saying to the rest of the world ‘We’ll come and build some of your infrastructure’.

“This was an area we were bad at in the past and I think everyone has a duty to insist on the best safety standards.”

However, the Chairman of Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) on Monday denied claims by Britain’s Guardian newspaper that 2022 World Cup organisers were treating Nepalese construction workers like ‘slaves’.

Ali Al-Marri said the allegations, made last week, were totally erroneous.

“There is no slavery or forced labour in Qatar,” he said at a press conference.

“The information that The Guardian reported is false and the numbers cited by them are exaggerated.”

The Guardian report last Thursday said dozens of Nepalese workers have died while working in Qatar in recent weeks, raising concerns about the Gulf state’s preparations to host the World Cup.

Quoting documents obtained by the Nepalese embassy in the Qatari capital Doha, the Guardian said thousands of Nepalese — at 370,000 the second largest group of labourers in Qatar after the Indians — faced exploitation and abuses amounting to “modern-day slavery”.

Marri admitted there had been difficulties but added the government were doing their utmost to put these right.

“There have been some problems, owing to the fact that there are 44,000 businesses in the country,” he said.

“But I can assure you that the authorities are constantly making efforts to resolve the problems.”

Aidan McQuade, director of Anti-Slavery International, who has seen the documents presented by the newspaper, told AFP last Thursday the evidence was “certainly highly indicative of a brutal working environment which is not good for anybody.”

Ali Ahmad Al-Khalifi, advisor on international relations to the Qatari Ministry of Work, told AFP that as a result of the Guardian article they were going to double the number of Work Inspectors to 150 in order that no abuses of workers takes place in the future.

For its part the International Confederation of Trade Unions (ITUC) estimated that at the rate of deaths on building works in Qatar, at least 4000 workers will die before the World Cup begins.

The ITUC is due to send a delegation to Qatar on October 7 in order to observe the working conditions for migrants in the country.

Champions League » News » Football: Casillas back as Real look for European response

Football: Casillas back as Real look for European responseChampions-League-Halbfinale 2012

Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas will make his first appearance at the Santiago Bernabeu in nearly nine months when Los Blancos host FC Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Casillas has lost his place in the side to Diego Lopez since breaking a bone in his hand in January, but coach Carlo Ancelotti has opted to play the Spanish number one in the Champions League and Copa del Rey.

The 32-year-old has played just 15 minutes of competitive action so far this season after being forced off with a rib injury early in Madrid’s 6-1 win away to Galatasaray on matchday one, but has recovered in time to take his place between the posts against the Danish champions.

Despite their incredible start to their European campaign, Madrid are under some pressure to bounce back from their 1-0 derby defeat to Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

That result left Ancelotti’s men five points behind Atletico and Barcelona in La Liga and the Italian’s tactics and substitutions were heavily criticised after Real created little of note against their city rivals.

However, Cristiano Ronaldo defended his new boss afterwards and said the responsibility lies with the players to perform better.

“There are new players and new ideas, but the coach is doing a phenomenal job,” he told reporters.

“He is a great person and a great coach. This doesn’t have anything to do with him, the responsibility is ours.

“I don’t think we are doing so badly, we have only lost one game, but hopefully we can improve.”

Gareth Bale could also make his first start as a Real player at the Bernabeu after making his home debut as a second-half substitute against Atletico.

Another former Spurs player Luka Modric is expected to come back into the side after surprisingly being dropped from the start at the weekend, whilst 20-year-old striker Alvaro Morata may finally get his chance up front ahead of the off-colour Karim Benzema.

Copenhagen, meanwhile, also got their campaign off to a good start by holding Italian champions Juventus to a 1-1 draw at home two weeks ago.

However, veteran defender Olof Mellberg, who enjoyed two spells in Spain with Racing Santander and Villarreal, believes they will have to play even better to take anything from the game on Wednesday.

“I expect it will be an even more difficult game than the one we played against Juventus at home,” he told Madrid sports daily AS.

“To obtain something positive we need to play extremely well, them to have a bad day and to have a bit of luck. We need everything to go our way to get a good result.”

World Cup » News » Football: Del Bosque hints at Diego Costa call-up

Football: Del Bosque hints at Diego Costa call-upSteven Gerrard

Spain manager Vicente del Bosque has fuelled speculation that Brazilian-born Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa will be called up for the world champions two remaining World Cup qualifiers.

Del Bosque will name his squad for the games against Belarus and Georgia on October 11 and 15 respectively on Friday with Spain needing just four points to guarantee their place in next year’s finals.

Costa has started the season in fantastic form and his eighth league goal in just seven matches was enough to hand Atletico a memorable 1-0 win over arch city rivals Real Madrid on Saturday.

That goal brought him level with Lionel Messi as La Liga’s top goalscorer this season with his return in front of goal meaning Diego Simeone’s men have barely missed the departed Radamel Falcao.

And Del Bosque is also convinced that his volatile nature wouldn’t be a liability heading into the World Cup.

“He is doing well enough to be called up and his character wouldn’t be a problem. He gives me the impression that he is a good guy. He has great spirit,” Del Bosque told Spanish television station Cuatro.

Costa is eligible to play for La Roja on residency grounds having lived in Spain since 2007.

The 24-year-old made two appearances for his native country earlier this year in friendlies against Italy and Russia, but he can still represent Spain as he hasn’t played in a competitive match at senior level.

“If we call him up we are almost obligated to take him to the World Cup, but we still don’t know if we can call him up or not.

“On Friday there will be a squad announcement and we will take those that are suitable. It will be a sporting decision,” he added.

Centre-forward is the one position Spain have been found wanting in recent years with Del Bosque choosing to play Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas in a somewhat unusual role up front as the form and fitness of David Villa and Fernando Torres has waned.

However, Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has criticised the potential move, claiming that the rules governing which countries a player may represent are outdated.