Skip to main content

Real have one eye on Ajax, other on Barca

The nine-times European champions are already assured of a place in the last 16 and need only a point to secure first place in Group G while the buildup to next Monday's 'clasico' against second-placed Barca is already in full swing.

Jose Mourinho's unbeaten La Liga leaders will travel to the Nou Camp with their one-point advantage intact after a 5-1 battering of Athletic Bilbao at the Bernabeu on Saturday.

"We are still top and we'll see what happens next Monday," Karanka told reporters.

"First we will think of our next game which is on Tuesday. There will be changes against Ajax. Things are going well and we have players in the squad who can come on at any moment."

Cristiano Ronaldo's rich vein of form continued with a hat-trick on Saturday, taking his tally in La Liga to 14 from 12 games. He is unlikely to be rested.

Former Dutch great Johan Cruyff has been critical of Jol recently and after Saturday's game called for the coach and the board to step down.

"As long as Cruyff lives he will say things about Ajax. He is doing it now and has done it in the past, I understand from my predecessors," Jol told reporters. "I just have to live with it."

Anita is expected to be fit but Emanuelson's absence might open the door for Miralem Sulejmani on the left.