LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AFP) - Playing against the mighty Real Madrid is always special but it takes on extra significance for Bayer Leverkusen when the German side look for Champions League revenge at the BayArena.
Leverkusen were victims of a wonder goal from French genius Zinedine Zidane in the 2002 Glasgow final as Madrid picked up a third Champions League crown following a 2-1 win.
Reaching the final was a major achievement for Leverkusen, a small city in north Germany, but things have gone awry since then with Klaus Toppmoller sacked just nine months after his finest hour as Bayer escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth.
New manager Klaus Augenthaler has revived the club's fortunes and they are now back in the big time with a duel against Madrid, one of the favourites for this year's crown.
"I do not think Real have found their rhythm yet," explained Leverkusen midfielder Carsten Ramelow.
The statistics does not back up Ramelow's claim with Real winning both of their league matches this season.
Added to that nine-time European champions Madrid have faced Leverkusen five times in the Champions League and have never tasted defeat.
"We have to be on our guard all the time as Real have so many good players who can win the match out of nowhere," confessed Ramelow.
Brazil World Cup hero Ronaldo, Spain striker Fernando Morientes, leading scorer in the competition while on loan at Monaco last term, and the irrepressible Zidane are just three Real players that spring to mind.
While Leverkusen have seen their 2002 team ripped apart - Michael Ballack, Lucio and Ze Roberto are all now at Bayern Munich - Madrid have also had a face-lift.
Former Spain coach Jose Antonio Camacho is now in charge and the defence has been strengthened by the close season arrivals of England centre-half Jonathan Woodgate and Argentine stopper Walter Samuel for a staggering 47 million euros.
Both are struggling with injuries ahead of the encounter and former Real Madrid custodian, Bodo Illgner, believes a fragile defence is still the Achilles heel of Real.
"Real can be hurt at the back and the defence needs to be protected by the midfield," explained Illgner.
Last year's runners-up Monaco demonstrated that point when they netted five times over two legs to eliminate Madrid at the quarter-final stage.
However there has been fighting talk coming out of Madrid this weekend none quite as feisty as under-fire England captain David Beckham, who scored the only goal in their unimpressive 1-0 victory over Numancia.
The 29-year-old was still at Manchester United when Real last won the Champions League and last season's campaign is one he would rather forget for the 'meringues' when his marital problems intruded on his form.
Poor performances for England at Euro 2004 and subsequent World Cup qualifiers has presented him with a huge challenge to show he is still worthy of his place in England's side but he has come out fighting.
"Of course my performances have not been as good but I don't think they stretch back as far as people are saying," he said.
"When you get criticised some people go the other way, but some people come out fighting and my way is to come out doing just that.
"And when people come out and criticise my family or my football then I just go out there and play my football."
Leverkusen are prolific scorers, underlined by their recent 4-1 drubbing of Bayern Munich, but have their own defensive frailities which tiny Mainz 05 exposed in a shock 2-0 win at the weekend.
Augenthaler accused his players of thinking too much about the Madrid game - they will certainly have to be focused on Wednesday to shut out Zidane and company.