Madrid glad of distraction

Real Madrid CF return to UEFA Champions League action on Tuesday with a home game against FC Porto that they hope will strengthen their hold on Group C. With maximum points from their opening two fixtures in the second group stage, Vicente del Bosque's men are well placed to claim a quarter-final place once again.

New coach
Porto, led by new coach José Mourinho, have so far failed to win, or even score, at this stage so confidence in the Madrid camp will be high. Or at least it will be if they can put to one side the memory of their poor domestic league form.

Poor form
Since defeating Panathinaikos FC 3-0 at home, which followed a 3-2 away win over AC Sparta Praha, Madrid have played eleven league games and only won five. The Champions League winners in 1998 and 2000 have gone eight away matches in the league and cup without a win, culminating last Saturday with a seventh league defeat of the season away to Athletic Club Bilbao. As they had done in the first leg of the cup semi-final, they lost 2-1 at San Mamés, thus allowing Valencia CF to edge a point ahead at the top of the table.

'Lacked commitment'
"Our first half performance was simply horrible," said Del Bosque. "We lacked commitment, ideas and, above all, directness in our play."

Five-star Morientes
Fernando Morientes's 16th league goal of the season reduced the arrears for Madrid but they could not break through a second time. It followed a 7-0 home win over UD Las Palmas the previous weekend in which Morientes became only the third Madrid player to score five times in a league match. He also had a late penalty saved to deny him a club-record six goals.
 
Injury problems
Morientes has now scored in each of his last three games for Madrid. Furthermore he took his impressive scoring record at international level to 13 in 17 games after firing the equaliser against Portugal in a friendly last week. Roberto Carlos is expected to play despite hurting his hip in Saturday's league match but Raúl González remains absent following a thigh injury sustained a fortnight ago against Real Valladolid. The club's medical staff preach caution in regard to his return to minimise the risk of a recurrence.

Hierro comeback
Geremi reported back to Madrid following Cameroon's triumph in the African Cup of Nations with a bruised ankle and was not included in the squad for the match in Bilbao. Brazilian forward Savio is still sidelined though Fernando Hierro made his comeback at San Mamés after a one-month absence.

Second spell
New Porto coach Mourinho will not be unknown to Spanish audiences having enjoyed a spell at FC Barcelona under both Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal. The 39-year-old returned to Portugal to take charge of SL Benfica and began this season in charge of UD Leiria before replacing Octávio Machado at Porto in January, starting his second spell at the club where he had earlier assisted Robson.

Costinha returns
He leads Porto on their fourth visit to the Santiago Bernabéu knowing that their three previous visits have ended in defeat, with only one goal scored and eight conceded. If that were not enough, Mourinho knows only too well the damage that can be done by Madrid's Portuguese, Luis Figo, a player he coached at the Camp Nou.

Figo threat
That said, the coach does not have a specific game plan to stop his compatriot from orchestrating the game from the centre of the park. "If we pay more attention to Figo than the others then we run the risk of being pulled apart because Madrid have plenty more great players," he told uefa.com. "We plan to defend from the front, with our strikers putting pressure on the Madrid defensive line because it is from there that they build their attacks, particularly through Fernando Hierro and Roberto Carlos."

Costinha returns
Mourinho knows the urgency of improving their status in Group C, with a goalless draw away to Panathinaikos having been followed by a 1-0 defeat at home against Sparta Praha as a 300th goal in European competition continued to elude Porto. At least central midfield player Costinha is now available again after serving a one-match ban.

Three additions
Before the 31 January deadline Porto made significant changes to their Champions League squad list, offloading five players and adding three. Veterans Vítor Baía and Carlos Secretário (a former Madrid player) are back on the list along with midfield player Miran Pavlin. The outgoing players are Sergey Ovchinnikov, who moved to FC Lokomotiv Moscow, Jorge Costa (Charlton Athletic FC), Roberto Sousa (CF Os Belenenses), Juan Esnaider (Club Atlético River Plate) and Víctor Quintana (Olimpia Asunción).

Good form
Last weekend Porto recorded a 4-1 victory at Vitória Setúbal with late goals from Costinha and Hélder Postiga (2) adding to an early own goal. It continues a good run under the new coach: four straight wins which is a Portuguese record in terms of immediate results after a mid-season change of manager. Porto are in third place in the table behind Boavista FC and Sporting Clube de Portugal.