By Brian Homewood
ZURICH, Sept 14 - Underdogs FC Zurich have been
told to put shirt-swapping at the back of their minds when they
face Real Madrid in their Champions League group match on
Tuesday.
"Every Zurich player dreams about swapping shirts with Raul,
(Cristiano) Ronaldo or Kaka," coach Bernard Challandes told
reporters on Monday. "I can understand their anxiety but we must
not forget about the game.
"It's good that the small teams get a chance to play the big
clubs but first we have to get points, then, if a player wants
to exchange shirts, that's fine."
The Swiss champions, twice semi-finalists in the days of the
European Cup, have been given a dream debut after reaching the
Champions League group stage for the first time.
But Challandes, whose team are rank outsiders in Group C,
felt he was in a no-win situation.
"It's going to be a very long night," he said.
"If I say that we're going to come out and attack Real
Madrid, play them on equal terms, try and win the game, then
people will say that I'm mad.
"If I say that we'll defend for 30 minutes, that Real Madrid
are the favourites, that maybe towards the end we will try and
score a goal, then people will say that I'm not motivating the
team.
"So I can only get it wrong."
BIG EFFORT
Nine-times European champions Real are desperate to improve
on a dismal recent record having been knocked out in the last 16
in their last five appearances.
An added incentive this season is that the final will be
played at their own Bernabeu stadium.
"We have to win back our prestige," forward Raul told a news
conference. "We know that in the last few years we haven't been
at the standard which Real Madrid deserves and we hope that this
time, with a new squad, we can go as far as possible.
"The club has made a big effort and the (new) players have
raised the quality for the squad."
Coach Manuel Pellegrini, who left Ronaldo out of the
starting line-up for Saturday's 3-0 league win at Espanyol,
would not be drawn on his line-up for Tuesday.
"There's no fixed principle, we are not going to have
rotation every week or play the same team for three games in a
row," he said.
(Editing by Sonia Oxley; To query or comment on this story
email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)