Injuries threaten Real Madrid's Champions League future ahead of derby

Injuries and suspension have made Real Madrid' s chances of overcoming neighbors Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League that bit more complicated and Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti will have to look for solutions if his side are to defend the European crown they won by beating Atletico last season.

Real and Atletico will meet for the eighth time this season in Real' s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday night after a 0-0 draw in the first leg.

Although an away draw is always a good result, Ancelotti and the Real Madrid players will be aware that not scoring away from home means that should Atletico find the net, that would need them needing to score twice in order to qualify.

They won' t need reminding that they have failed to defeat Atletico in any of the seven previous meetings this season and that their neighbors won the Spanish Supercup at the start of the season thanks to the away goals rule.

There will be 80,000 fans in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday night, the vast majority of them supporting Real Madrid, but the home side has been struck by a series of injury setbacks.

Last week' s first leg saw left back Marcelo pick up a booking which means he is suspended and Ancelotti has to choose between Alvaro Arbeloa and Fabio Coentrao to replace the Brazilian.

However, the big blows came at the end of the week when Karim Benzema suffered a knee injury which saw him miss Saturday' s 3-1 win at home to Malaga and which also makes him a major doubt for Wednesday night.

Gareth Bale suffer a calf injury against Malaga which will sideline him for 2/3 weeks, before playmaker Luka Modric suffered a knee injury which means he will probably miss the end of the season.

Ancelotti can replace Bale with the popular Isco, while Jese Rodriguez or Javier Hernandez can replace Benzema, but replacing Modric is a bigger issue as neither Lucas Silva, Sami Khedira nor Asier Illaramendi have the same vision on the ball.

The Real Madrid coach will no doubt remember Khedira' s poor display as his side were defeated 4-0 by Atletico earlier this year, which means Illaramendi will probably get the nod.

Meanwhile Atletico are without the suspended Mario Suarez, but Gabi returns after resting last weekend, as does striker Mario Mandzukic, who will resume his bruising battle with the Real Madrid defense.

It promises to be tense, physical and tight once again, but without Modric, perhaps the scales have tilted in Atletico' s favor. Endi