Osasuna's upstarts ready for Real

Real Madrid will be in the unwelcome position of wanting to do their rivals Barcelona a favour when the joint-leaders Osasuna visit the Bernabeu tomorrow night. The team from Pamplona share La Liga's lead with the Catalan standard-bearers while Real are third, six points adrift.

The match will be the first at home for Real's caretaker manager, Juan Ramon Lopez Caro. The former youth coach oversaw a victory at Malaga last week but Osasuna are a much tougher proposition.

Their coach, Javier Aguirre, said: "We have a lot of self belief. We will show them respect but without having any complexes."

Managers at Real tend to be yes men or hard men and Lopez Caro claims to be the latter. He demanded extra training this week and said: "No one is untouchable. The players will have to earn their place."

Real have David Beckham available after suspension but Zinedine Zidane is struggling with an ankle injury.

Barcelona are expected to beat a 50-year-old club record of 11 consecutive victories in all competitions at Cadiz this evening. Also today is the Galician derby between Celta Vigo and Deportivo La Coruna; both clubs are in the top seven.

Juventus are in the Italian capital Rome tonight aiming for their 15th win in 16 games. Internazionale and Fiorentina, 10 points adrift but still their nearest rivals, will hope Lazio maintain their unbeaten home record.

Lazio are without Brazilian winger Cesar while Christian Abbiati continues to deputise for Gianluigi Buffon in the Juve goal. Tomorrow Inter are at Reggina, while Fiorentina travel to Empoli.