LONDON: If beating Atletico Madrid wasn’t hard enough for Real Madrid, the defending champions must now find a way to better their cross-town rivals in the Champions League without four of their most important players.

A depleted Real host Atletico at the Bernabeu on Wednesday in the second leg of the quarter-finals having failed to overcome Los Rojiblancos in seven games since beating them in last season’s Champions League final, including last week’s 0-0 draw in the first leg at the Vicente Calderon.

Real coach Carlo Ancelotti will be without playmaker Luka Modric and forward Gareth Bale while striker Karim Benzema’s knee injury may be more serious than first thought and he will also miss the second leg.

As well as the injury absences, fullback Marcelo is suspended for the decider but Atletico striker Fernando Torres is still wary of a Real side featuring Cristiano Ronaldo.

“They have more than enough talented players,” Torres said. “We will try to take advantage of [their injuries], but it won’t make much of a difference.”

In the night’s other last-eight second-leg tie Juventus will be hoping to make it 11 victories out of 11 against French teams in knockout ties when they face AS Monaco primed to secure a spot in the semi-finals after Arturo Vidal’s penalty gave them a 1-0 victory against the Principality club last Tuesday.

“We have a great chance and we can’t let it escape,” said striker Carlos Tevez, a Champions League winner with Manchester United in 2008. “As I said as soon as we reached the quarterfinals, now anything can happen.”

REAL Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (L) runs next to team-mates Lucas Silva (R) and Marcelo during a training session in Valdebebas on Tuesday, a day ahead of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg against Atletico Madrid.—Reuters

RODRIGUEZ MAY HOLD KEY

Given Real’s absences, the return to fitness and form of James Rodriguez is a huge boost for Los Blancos.

The Colombian World Cup star has scored twice in four games after a two-month injury layoff due to a broken foot to take his tally to an impressive 14 in his first season at the Bernabeu.

Ancelotti must improvise by either playing two, rather than the usual trident, in attack as he has often done in the absence of Bale or by pushing Rodriguez forward on to the right wing to take the place of the Welshman.

Rodriguez stood out in a sluggish performance by Real in Saturday’s 3-1 La Liga win over Malaga when he scored a fine 25-metre goal, won a penalty and provided defensive cover in midfield.

“We are all dreaming of getting through this round and if I can score as well then it would be great,” Rodriguez told Real’s website. “The most important thing is to win and get through this very difficult game, but we are in our own stadium with our own fans. I think it could be a great game.”

However, Real will be faced with arguably the best defence in Europe on Wednesday. Atletico have conceded just once in their last eight Champions League games and have shutout their local rivals in four of their previous seven meetings this season.

And they are one strong performance away from avenging last season’s painful 4-1 extra time loss to Real in the Champions League final.

While Real can still vie for the La Liga title, trailing Barcelona by two points with six matches to go, Atletico’s hopes to win a major trophy for a fourth consecutive season under coach Diego Simeone hinge on advancing to the semi-finals.

“I am facing it like it’s the most important game of the season,” Torres said.

Atletico have not lost in their last three visits to the Bernabeu and are led in attack by Antoine Griezmann who is in a rich vein of form after hitting a double in Atletico’s 2-1 win over Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.

ITALY’S DROUGHT

On Monaco’s sun-kissed shores, Juve can prove Italian football isn’t on its deathbed.

The first decade of this millennium was one of Italian glory. Between them, Milan’s teams — AC and Inter — won the Champions League three times. Only Spain, with three titles from Real Madrid and Barcelona, did as well from 2001-2010.

In 2002-2003, club football’s leading competition was almost entirely ‘Made in Italy,’ with three semi-finalists (Juve, Inter, and Milan), and Milan beating Juve on penalties in the all-Italian final.

But after the harvest came drought. Since Inter won in 2010, no Italian team has made the semi-finals. Italian football needs a fillip, and Juve are poised to deliver it on Wednesday as they look to clinch a place in the last four for the first time since 2003.

Juventus moved 15 points clear at the top of Serie A after beating second-placed Lazio 2-0 on Saturday as they close in on a fourth successive domestic crown and on current form they will start the match at Stade Louis II as favourites to reach the last four.

Monaco will now be obliged to come out and attack at home, something which is not their forte, and their coach Leonardo Jardim admitted his team are better suited to playing away from home when they can hit teams on the break — as they did so devastatingly in London in the last 16 when they defeated Arsenal 3-1, that result allowing them to progress on away goals despite losing 2-0 at home.

Juventus largely dominated the first leg, although Monaco did have chances of their own and went close to scoring through both Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco and Dimitar Berbatov.

“I was not surprised by Monaco because we didn’t underestimate them, but they played really well against us,” Juve’s veteran French international left-back Patrice Evra told Canal Plus. “I think the second leg will be different and Juve will have a greater control of the match.”

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2015

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