Madrid - Wednesday will be a very important night for Real Madrid.

That is when the Spanish giants will be trying to turn the tables on their Euro jinx team of recent years, Juventus of Turin, in the week's most high-profile Champions League game.

At the same time, Real will be trying to go back on top of Group H.

"The Old Lady", as Juventus are known in Italy, are currently top of the group, with seven points to Real's six - thanks to their 2-1 home win over the Spaniards two weeks ago.

This was the fourth time that the nine-time winners Real had lost in Turin within 12 years.

Juventus, who have lifted the Champions' trophy twice, beat Real in the 1996 quarter-finals, with Alessandro Del Piero playing a starring role.

Real did beat Juventus in the 1998 final, with a controversial goal from Pedja Mijatovic, but since then nothing has gone right for the whites against the "Old Lady".

In May 2003, Juventus scored a memorable 3-1 win over Real to reach the final against compatriots AC Milan, with goals from Del Piero, David Trezeguet and Pavel Nedved.

Two years later, Real returned to Turin with a 1-0 lead in the round of 16 - and were beaten 2-0 from goals by Trezeguet and Marcelo Zalayeta.

"Juventus have become a difficult team for us in recent years," said veteran Real right-back Michel Salgado. "That is why it is important we beat them on Wednesday."

But the big game has not come at a good time for Real.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Pepe and Mahamadou Diarra are all struggling with minor injuries.

On Sunday they played poorly down in Almeria, and were lucky to escape with a 1-1 draw - a result which leaves them two points behind runaway leaders Barcelona.

The pressure has started to build up on coach Bernd Schuster, as Alfredo Relano, influential editor of sports daily AS, said on Tuesday.

"Schuster is under serious pressure now," wrote Relano, really for the first time. Last season, the German swept to the Liga title against a free-falling Barcelona side.

This season, Barca have been reborn. And Schuster is not only obliged to retain the Liga title but also to get Real past the round of 16 for the first time since 2004, with a squad short on forwards because of the flight of Robinho to Manchester City - and because of the failure to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United.

Schuster's attack depends almost exclusively on veterans Van Nistelrooy and Raul Gonzalez, as well as on the injury-prone Arjen Robben.

In addition, Schuster is getting on badly with sporting director Pedja Mijatovic and with Miguel Angel Portugal, the enigmatic adviser to president Ramon Calderon.

Juventus, for their part, are still without injured veterans Gianluigi Buffon and Trezeguet.

But they look much stronger than they did a month ago, partly due to the good form of fellow veterans Del Piero and Nedved.

Del Piero, now 33, scored the first goal in Saturday's 2-0 defeat of Roma, a win which takes Juventus up to sixth in Serie A - and which puts them in good heart for Wednesday. (dpa)