Friday 24 August 2007 at 13:52

Real Madrid look shaky ahead of their season-opening match - a derby with neighbours Atletico - despite being widely tipped to repeat their La Liga success this year.

For the Saturday match against Atletico Arjen Robben will be absent, while Gabriel Heinze is unlikely to make the first XI.

Robben has been judged unfit to play despite eliciting joy on his arrival at the Bernabeu this week and Heinze looks set to be a sub after missing out on action with former club Manchester United so far this season.

Real Madrid suffered a 5-3 defeat at the hands of Uefa Cup holders Sevilla last Sunday and another poor show will lengthen odds on a further league championship victory, which have so far remained short at 7/4 with Bet365.

So far coach Bernard Schuster has failed to make an impact since joining in July and an air of panic has settled over the squad, with forward Javier Saviola lamenting: "We're still a long way off from playing well. We need to change our outlook and we have to do it quick because we have only a few days left before we play Atletico."

This means a well-timed wager over the next couple of days could pay off before the team regains its form, which also holds true for bets on Real Madrid to win the Champions League.

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