Espanyol vs Real Madrid preview - Fast start key for Madrid

Posted Sunday, October 02, 2011 by PA

Real Madrid take their title challenge to Espanyol's Cornella-El Prat stadium on Sunday night knowing they need to improve their starts to games.

Jose Mourinho's men cast aside their see-saw domestic form to crush Ajax in the Champions League in midweek, but return to the Primera Division with work to do.

While they sit fifth with 10 points to their name and an impressive 16 goals to their credit after five games, the capital club have had to work harder than they would have hoped so far.

Last weekend`s 6-2 win over Rayo Vallecano came after they conceded inside 14 seconds, while poor starts cost them in the defeat at Levante and the draw at Racing Santander.

The need to kick-off with a flourish has not been lost on the players, with midfielder Xabi Alonso admitting in the build-up to tomorrow's game that improvements need to be made.

Looking back over the last fortnight, the Spain midfielder told www.realmadrid.com: "It was strange to have so few chances to score against Racing. It's preferable not to wait too long to score our first strike in each game because it makes us hasty.

"We have to control that.

"We can have many chances on goal in a straightforward offensive style thanks to the quality of our players. We will grow considerably as a team by combining that with the knowledge of what the team needs at any given time."

Madrid look set to be without Karim Benzema, Pepe and Fabio Coentrao for the clash due to injuries.

However, Hamit Altintop gave Mourinho a boost by coming off the bench, albeit for six minutes, against Ajax following a serious back injury and he could play some part. Angel Di Maria is suspended following his red card against Rayo, but Sami Khedira returns from a ban.

Former Espanyol midfielder Jose Callejon could replace Di Maria, having only recently returned to full fitness.

Like Madrid, Espanyol have also fallen foul of Levante this season, losing 3-1 to the Valencia-based club last weekend, with Hector Moreno scoring their loan goal.

They enter the weekend in 10th place with six points but coach Mauricio Pochettino has failed to beat Madrid in five outings, while his sides have yet to score a goal against the 31-times champions.

Unsurprisingly, Pochettino has highlighted Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the main men his side need to stop.

The Portugal forward already has seven league goals to his name this season - including two hat-tricks - and scored a wonder goal against Ajax in midweek.

"It's important to cut Cristiano Ronaldo off," the Argentinian said.

"But Real have other major players. They are very balanced and high quality. Their squad is larger than last season.

"Let`s play as though we are going to win. We are brave but we will not go looking for them because we know we will suffer."