MADIRD — With Real Madrid facing an injury crisis ahead of Wednesday's Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid attention will be on talisman Cristiano Ronaldo to lead it through but James Rodriguez may hold the key. Real coach Carlo Ancelotti will be without playmaker Luka Modric and forward Gareth Bale while striker Karim Benzema's knee injury may be more serious than first thought and he will also miss the quarterfinal, second leg. As well as the injury absences, attacking fullback Marcelo is suspended for the decider at the Bernabeu with the tie standing at 0-0 from the first game. Ancelotti must improvise by either playing two, rather than the usual trident, in attack as he has often done in the absence of Bale or by pushing Rodriguez forward on to the right-wing to take the place of the Welshman. Rodriguez has been in impressive form since his return from injury at the beginning of April with Real winning all four league games. Now, in the absence of Modric, who is set to be the player that Real will miss most against Atletico, it is Rodriguez who can provide similar passing and build-up play. Ronaldo's strike against Malaga brought up his 50th goal of the season but he struggled after Christmas without the support from midfield of Modric or Rodriguez. Atletico will try to take advantage of the absentees to get some revenge for its defeat in last season's Champions League final and is led in attack by Antoine Griezmann who is in a rich vein of form. Juventus aim to continue 100 percent record against French teams Juventus, meanwhile, will be hoping to make it 11 victories out of 11 against French teams in knockout ties when it faces AS Monaco in the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal also Wednesday. Juventus, which moved 15 points clear at the top of Serie A Saturday as it closes in on a fourth successive domestic crown, also has its eyes on a first Champions League semifinal appearance since 2003. On current form it will start the match at Stade Louis II as favorite to reach the last four. It has won all 10 of its previous knockout ties against French teams in Europe while Monaco has won only one of six ties against Italian clubs. The Ligue 1 club has also not won any of its last four home matches in any competition. Coach Massimiliano Allegri saw his men win last week's first leg 1-0 in Turin thanks to Arturo Vidal's second-half penalty and it travels to Monaco seeking a third straight away win in the competition after victories at Malmo and Borussia Dortmund. His only injury absentees are central defender Martin Caceres (ankle) and attacking midfielder Paul Pogba (thigh). While Allegri is enjoying Juve's good form, his Monaco counterpart Leonardo Jardim has had to watch his side stumble in recent weeks. His immediate concern will be to work out a way to contain the Serie A side's attacking intent without injured defensive midfielder Jeremy Toulalan (hamstring injury). — Agencies
