Oh, Campione: AA's Real Madrid Preview

US: 2:45 PM-Fox Sports 1

UK: 7:45 PM-Sky Sports 5

We take on European Champions Real Madrid in a rematch of the 1981 European Cup Final, which was won by a solitary goal from Liverpool's Ray Kennedy. There were also memories made on Real's last trip to Anfield, when Liverpool overran the Spanish giants 4-0 on what has become a famous night in our recent history.

And Stevie Gerrard has said, even though times may have changed, the lads will give everything they have in order to do well tomorrow night, as they all know what this means.

Brendan Rodgers has backed the fans to boost our momentum going in, and also has said that the players will look to boost themselves against such testing opposition.

There are no new injury concerns -- Joe Allen and Emre Can both got minutes against QPR on Sunday, while we've been reassured from multiple sources that Alberto Moreno was only being rested at the weekend in order to be fit for this game.

There's a bit of suspicion that perhaps Glen Johnson may start ahead of Javier Manquillo, if only because of experience, for this game. Alberto Moreno may like the fact that because of Bale's injury, he won't have to mark him, but then there's also the small matter of Isco or James Rodriguez.

As mentioned above, Gareth Bale will miss the match, but Isco is a more than capable replacement. Sergio Ramos and Fabio Coentrao are also set to miss out, though the former is set to be closer to a recovery than Coentrao, and may well be fit for the reverse fixture in two week's time.

Carlo Ancelotti has spoken to Liverpool's official site and said that he can't wait to visit Anfield again, having witnessed the atmosphere that Kopites generate both in that storied night in Istanbul as AC Milan's manager, and again two years later in Athens.

He will make sure that his charges are as up for this as they can be, knowing that the Kop in full voice is a monster all its own.

Steve Gerrard will most likely have his hands full with the likes of Toni Kroos, who has begun to sit in the hole and play from deep in the way that Xabi Alonso did for them last year. Kroos has four assists in eight La Liga matches.

Real have scored 10 goals in their last two matches, and started their Champions League campaign off with a 5-1 drubbing of Basel before getting over the line against minnows Ludogorets on CL match day two. In their last five games, including CL, have scored a grand total of 19, conceding just two, which doesn't exactly bode well for our leaky defense.

It looks as if it will be young Rafael Varane and Pepe in defense for Madrid, with the former playing a formidable partnership this summer alongside our own Mamadou Sakho at the World Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best young defender in Europe, so he's no pushover.

Other thoughts:

-ATTACK. It's the only way you beat Madrid, as shown by Atletico and Barca before us. I suggest a 4-3-3 with a back four of Manquillo (Johnson's lazy), Lovren, Skrtel and Moreno. Then a midfield of Hendo, Stevie and Coutinho. With a front three of Sterling, Balotelli and either Markovic or Lallana. (JAceKopite16)

-Benching Balo? Are you bloody serious? These are the games we bought him for! And hopefully, the bigger the stage, the bigger the man. *touch wood* (JAceKopite16)

-Runs off the ball are key. There was little to no movement off the ball on Sunday, and if we're gonna get a result, we need to make it difficult for them to get touches, whether it's sticking to the man, runs in behind, or fast passing. It needs to be perfect. (JAceKopite16)

-This will probably be a game of the counter attacks and therefore should be wide open. (Dan)

-Multiple Liverpool players need to play the games of their lives for the Reds to pull this off. (Dan)