With 14 European Cup titles between them, Real Madrid and Liverpool meet Wednesday in the continent's premier club competition for only the second time.

GAME: Real Madrid vs. Liverpool
DATE/TIME: Wednesday, February 25 - 19:45 PM GMT
LINE: Madrid +100
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In the first meeting, the English team beat Madrid 1-0 in the 1981 European Cup final - the third of Liverpool's five championships.

But while Liverpool is fading in the Premier League, nine-time European champion Madrid has put pressure on Spanish leader Barcelona with nine straight league wins - its third longest streak in history and best in 23 years - heading into Wednesday's Champions League match.

Madrid, like all home teams today, is the favorite (+100) with Liverpool paying +320 for the road victory and a draw priced at +225.

"I knew it could be difficult when the draw took place because they were a good team, and now they have improved from two months ago," Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez said. "(But) Anything can happen in a game."

Liverpool is hoping for the return of captain Steven Gerrard, who was out for three weeks with a hamstring injury. Benitez said he would wait till after Tuesday evening's training session before making any decisions about his skipper's fitness.

Gerrard trained normally with the rest of the squad during the workout.

The game will be a special one for Benitez, who returns to his hometown for his first visit since joining Liverpool.

Benitez came up through Madrid's youth system as a player and then coach before becoming an assistant to Vicente del Bosque during the 1993-94 season.

The Spaniard, who never won in Madrid with Valencia, has stacked his roster with five Spanish players, including former Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres.

Torres, however, has never scored a competitive goal at the Santiago Bernabeu, nor won a match there while playing with Atletico.

Madrid, which has conceded only four goals under coach Juande Ramos, has cut Barcelona's lead from 12 to seven points in two months.

"In Madrid we're going to win 3-0, and at Anfield we'll also win 1-2 because they'll open up and we'll overrun them," interim Madrid president Vicente Boluda said. "Wednesday's game will be a great one."
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Ramos has won 11 of 12 games since replacing fired coach Bernd Schuster in December and has a full roster to choose from with Arjen Robben healthy and strikers Raul Gonzalez and Gonzalo Higuain in excellent form.

"I only want to win and we're going to do it in both legs," Robben said.

Only Raul is taking a slightly more cautious approach.

"I see it as being very equal," Raul said in Tuesday's edition of Marca. "We're a lot better than when the draw came out, while Liverpool has lost a little. It'll be 180 intense minutes between two teams that know what is at stake. I think the little details could make the difference."

The return leg at Anfield will be played on March 10.

Madrid last reached the Champions League quarterfinals in 2004, while Liverpool has won six of its past seven two-legged series against Spanish opposition, the last against Barcelona two years ago. The English club has also reached the semifinals in three of the last four years, including on its way to beating AC Milan in the 2005 final.

Benitez, who took credit for Madrid's decision to sign Raul on Monday, said Madrid's all-time leading scorer could prove the difference.

"He could be more or less the same to Real Madrid as Gerrard is to us," Benitez said.