Guti stakes Bernabéu claim

The start of a season is a time for renewed optimism for any player, and this year Guti is feeling it more than most. The 30-year-old, in his 12th campaign for Real Madrid CF, has been used as a regular under new coach Bernd Schuster after a long wait for such a role.

'Enthusiastic'
Madrid may be awash with new faces, but it is a homegrown player that is being tasked with binding them together into a winning unit. "I'm very enthusiastic," Guti told uefa.com. "The squad has changed considerably but those of us who are still here are valued by the coach. The club has made a huge effort to build a high quality team and now we all have to contribute in order to win titles by the end of the season."

'Confidence'
Guti played his part last term as Madrid won a thrilling title race to claim the Primera División crown for the first time since 2003. That success has only whetted supporters' appetite for more and with €119m having been invested in new players over the summer expectations are high even by Madrid's standards. "We're used to pressure," the vice-captain said. "We're aware the supporters expect great things from us and that there will also be tougher games where we will have to concentrate exclusively on winning. The important thing is that the start to the season has served to gather confidence and put us on the right track for the rest of the season."

'Adapting'
Guti was on the scoresheet in the 5-0 rout of Villarreal CF two weeks ago, and is clearly relishing working under Schuster. Worringly for Madrid's rivals, Guti believes his side are yet to hit top gear as they adjust to the new coach's methods and style. "Little by little we're adapting and getting to know the plan he has for us. During training we focus a lot on defensive and offensive movements and I think we're practically there."

Sneijder praise
Madrid's new faces have quickly settled at the Santiago Bernabéu and Wesley Sneijder in particular has caught the eye. He has already scored three league goals and has struck up a good partnership with Guti in the process. "He plays in a similar style to me which makes it much easier to understand one another on the pitch," Guti said. "Despite him not being all that well known in Spain, he has tremendous quality and scores a lot of goals and could become one of the big names this season."

'No easy opponent'
Madrid will be hoping the midfield pair can carry that understanding into the UEFA Champions League where they have been drawn against Olympiacos CFP, Werder Bremen and S.S. Lazio in Group C. "At a club like Real Madrid you have to set your mind on winning everything," Guti says. "It's true that maybe none of the three teams is on the same level as Chelsea [FC] or AC Milan, but they're all big rivals so there's no easy opponent in the group."

This is an edited version of an article from this week's uefa.com Magazine. To read in full click here.