Schuster focus on unfinished business

If S.S. Lazio are to assure themselves of a place in the UEFA Champions League knockout stage, their coach Delio Rossi must mastermind a victory by two goals against Real Madrid CF at the Santiago Bernabéu, a venue where the Spanish champions have lost only once in their last 24 games in the competition. A draw will be enough to send Madrid through.

Job to finish
Bernd Schuster, like Rossi, is another coach would have preferred to have wrapped up qualification by now, but the Madrid boss realises his team must forget about missed opportunities ahead of the Group C decider. "It's true we didn't want to find ourselves in this position," said the German. "We had some great chances to beat Olympiacos [CFP] away [on Matchday 4] and I thought we deserved at least a draw in Germany against Werder Bremen [on Matchday 5] but we lost. We have to resolve our situation on Tuesday."

Home advantage
The last time these two sides met, in Rome on Matchday 2, they produced an exciting 2-2 draw. The same result again would suffice for Madrid, and Schuster feels that going into the tie as group leaders gives his team a telling advantage. "We're in a better position than they are, in that we have two possibilities to advance: with a win or with a draw. We have a lot in our favour and we must take advantage of that."

Confidence
Madrid are without the injured trio of Gabriel Heinze, Javier Ángel Balboa (both knee) and Christoph Metzelder (heel) but will have striker Ruud van Nistelrooy available after he shrugged off an injury scare. According to Schuster, Madrid are "up for this one. It'll be difficult but we're confident. We have a lot of respect for Lazio. We're going to try to play at our rhythm. Our players know how important this game is and they know their capabilities and qualities."

Winning possibility
Both Madrid and Lazio enjoyed league victories at the weekend, with the former winning 1-0 at Athletic Club Bilbao to maintain their four-point lead in the Primera División, while the Biancocelesti gained a confidence-boosting 2-0 triumph against Calcio Catania in Serie A. Lazio coach Rossi says the prospect of "playing one of the best teams in the world" is a "very emotional one" but this is a match he believes his side can win. "In a game of football a thousand things can happen. It's going to be difficult but we can win."

Team performance
The visitors will be missing Simone Del Nero, who has a foot injury, but good news comes with the return of Emílson Sánchez Cribari who was suspended for the 2-1 loss at home to Olympiacos two weeks ago. Most attention, though, will be on Lazio strikers Tommaso Rocchi and Goran Pandev, who both scored against Catania. "They'll be important, of course, but it won't only be up to them," said Rossi. "Every player in our team is important. We'll need to keep our balance against Madrid. We need to play our game, not allow Madrid to play theirs, and we'll also need a bit of luck."