Madrid had won seven of their previous eight games, drawing the other, heading into Tuesday's clash with Juve, but the two-time reigning Spanish champions came unstuck against the Italian giants as they suffered a 2-1 loss.

That defeat may not prove too costly in Europe with Madrid still well-placed in Group H and with Juve still to visit the Bernabeu, but Bernd Schuster will be keen to see his side get back to winning ways against an Athletic side they did the double over last season.

"Athletic are the same team and the same coach, we know how they are. They are going to make life difficult for us as always and we are going to try and learn from what happened in Turin so the same thing doesn't happen again," said Schuster, who is happy with the health of his side.

"The team has recovered. The game was on Tuesday and think that is enough days to recover, there were no problems."

Nevertheless, Schuster has opted to give veteran centre-back Fabio Cannavaro a break for the Athletic match, which pits two of the three clubs never to have been relegated from the Primera Liga against each other - the other being Barcelona.

Striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored the only goal at San Mames last season, is suspended, while Javi Garcia, Jordi Codina and Ruben De la Red are also missing.

Schuster does welcome back midfield duo Guti and Mahamadou Diarra following injury, though.

Madrid will be firm favourites to win against an Athletic side who have had a disappointing start to the season and have a poor record at the Bernabeu down the years, losing on 49 of their 77 league trips to the capital and winning just 13 times.

Madrid defender Sergio Ramos is confident his side can bring up a half-century of home wins against Athletic this weekend, predicting to AS: "We'll win 2-0 and I will score one of the strikes from a header. I've scored against them twice already, both in Madrid and Bilbao."

Athletic are currently in 17th spot in the standings, level on five points with third-bottom Recreativo Huelva.

Their sole victory came against Real Valladolid over a month ago and their last three matches have ended in defeats to Getafe, Sevilla and Barcelona.

These are worrying times again for the Basque club, who have been struggling at the wrong end of the table in recent seasons, but veteran forward Joseba Etxeberria believes now is the perfect time to show what they are made of.

"We are facing a very good test to show the level of this team. Madrid create a lot of chances at home, so you are obliged to create some of your own as well," he said.

Athletic coach Joaquin Caparros is without midfielder Ander Iturraspe after he picked up an injury in a training match this week, and defender Ander Murillo also misses out again.