New Delhi: In the Champions League clash on Wednesday night Real Madrid face Liverpool at the Bernabeu Stadium.
Real Madrid are in great form after the 6-1 drubbing of Real Betis last Saturday and their coach Juande Ramos can take comfort from the fact that he has a full squad to choose from.
But Liverpool have injury worries to tackle and their talismanic captain Steven Gerrard's place in the final 11 will be decided after a final fitness test just before the match.
After starting the season on a high the Reds have seen a slump in form of late and will have to pull out a sterling performance against a confident home team.
Liverpool's English Premier League rivals and last year's finalists Chelsea, too, are preparing for their home match againt Claudio Ranieri's Juventus.
Ranieri, a former Chelsea coach himself, will be up against Hiddink who takes charge in his first champs league match for Chelsea.
The home team will miss the services of Joe Cole and Ricardo Carvalho, but Michael Essien is expected to return.
With both Chelsea and Juventus almost out of title contention in their home leagues, the match will be one to look out for.
"Being in this competition at home, with this home crowd, I think that everybody can expect a lot from this team. In the way of the energy and the way passion - and for me especially for the first game, oh yeah, it's special," said Guus Hiddink, Chelsea caretaker manager.
"There is something added to it this year because of the manner in which we came so close last year, you cant help but have that in the back of your mind, it gives us a great determination to go back and win it one day, whether that is this year or not," added Chelsea Midfielder Frank Lampard.
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