Conte admits stakes are high for Turin 'classic'

"Juventus v Real Madrid is a classic," said Antonio Conte, the Bianconeri coach, as he looked ahead to Tuesday's high-stakes fixture for the Italian champions.

Conte knows that it is a "crucial" game for his team's prospects and urged the home fans to get behind Juventus who start the night third in Group B: "We're up against a strong team and there will be times when we're going to be up against it." His compatriot and Real Madrid CF counterpart Carlo Ancelotti, meanwhile, is hoping to build on three straight wins and secure qualification as fast as possible. "The sooner you get that the better," he admitted.

• A victory would take Madrid through, and in first place, if Galatasaray AŞ fail to beat FC København. A draw is enough for Madrid if FCK do not win.

Juventus
Antonio Conte, coach
It's a crucial game and important for our future in the Champions League. We're very much looking forward to it. We've got to show on the field, as we did in Madrid, that we deserve to go through, otherwise we will be the first to kneel down and applaud those who make it through at our expense.

Certainly, they have an extraordinary attack. I would call them devastating, especially if they are allowed to play the game they prefer. Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Ángel Di María, to name but a few, are extraordinary – fantastic when they have the field in front of them and space to exploit, so we've got to be careful.

It's an incredibly hard game against one of the top candidates to win the Champions League. Juventus v Real Madrid is a classic, a very intriguing game. We need our fans both in the positive and not so positive moments because we're up against a strong team and there will be times when we're going to be up against it.

Weekend result
Saturday: Parma FC 0-1 Juventus (Pogba 77)
Buffon; Barzagli, Ogbonna, Chiellini; Padoin, Vidal, Pogba, Marchisio (Pirlo 62), Asamoah; Tévez (Quagliarella 76), Giovinco (Llorente 75).

• Juventus won, and kept a clean sheet, for the third consecutive Serie A game, courtesy of a Paul Pogba strike. It was Conte's 100th match in Serie A as a coach (13 with Atalanta BC and 87 with Juventus). Fabio Quagliarella recovered from his thigh injury to come off the bench.

Team news
Giorgio Chiellini is suspended after being sent off in Madrid. Stephan Lichtsteiner and Mirko Vučinić are still sidelined after suffering thigh injuries on matchday two. "They will not be available against Madrid," said Conte after the victory in Parma.

Real Madrid
 Carlo Ancelotti, coach
Conte has done an extraordinary job. He is working at a club which he feels particularly strongly about and in these three years, he's done more than anybody could have possibly imagined, winning the title twice. He's got a very competitive side.

We need to rotate our team to have the freshest players on the field, with the most physical strength, and I don't think rotating is a problem although sometimes we lose our balance as a result and we need to improve this. It's going to be an interesting game. Juve have more difficulties than us in the group – this is a chance for us to seal qualification and the sooner you get that, the better.

We've been conceding too many goals and this is our problem. Everybody in the world knows how important the defensive work is, but we've scored 42 goals in 15 games, with an average of three goals a game. I think the three attackers I have are very interesting. [Raphaël] Varane will play tomorrow because he didn't play on Saturday and will be fresh, then I'll choose between [Sergio] Ramos and Pepe to partner him.

[Xabi Alonso and Andrea Pirlo] are great players, both very fast and intelligent. I've been lucky to have worked for clubs with players like these. I've been lucky to have Pirlo at Milan and now I'm very lucky to have Alonso.

Weekend result
Saturday: Rayo Vallecano de Madrid 2-3 Madrid (Viera 53pen 55pen; Ronaldo 3 48, Benzema 31)
López; Carvajal (Arbeloa 59), Pepe, Ramos, Coentrão (Marcelo 45); Modrić, Alonso (Illarramendi 45), Di María; Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo.

• Despite taking a commanding lead through Ronaldo's double – which took the attacker's Liga tally to 13 this season – and a further strike from Benzema, third-placed Madrid were forced to endure a second-half resurgence by hosts who went close to rescuing a point.  

Team news
Full-back Fábio Coentrão suffered a left ankle sprain at the weekend and Ancelotti confirmed on Monday that he is Madrid's sole absentee. Alonso – recently recovered from a broken foot – made his first start in 169 days on Saturday.

Match fact
• Pogba and Varane both made their France debuts on 22 March this year in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Georgia at the Stade de France. Benzema also played in that 3-1 victory.