Real Madrid keep pressure on Barca

Real Madrid head to Pamplona on Saturday desperate to keep the pressure on La Liga leaders Barcelona after the Christmas break

Real Madrid start the weekend two points behind the champions and know staying there is likely to be the best they can hope for as Barcelona take on Villarreal on Saturday night at the Camp Nou, where they have a 100 per cent record so far this season.

"We will go there and try to win and get the points that will keep us within touching distance of Barcelona," said defender Ezequiel Garay.

"It is a tough place to play in. It's a small venue and the fans are right on top of you. I am sure they will try to sidetrack us, but we will do whatever it takes to win."

As they enjoyed their new year celebrations, Madrid will reflect a two-point deficit to Barcelona is perhaps not a bad return given the injuries that have bitten in the first half of the season, not least to Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldo.

While Pepe will not return this campaign, Ronaldo is back to full speed after his ankle problem and targeting the league crown.

"Real Madrid will be the best team in 2010," he confidently told Marca. "We need to have the drive and motivation to win everything that comes our way.

"I hope I do not get hurt any more and on a team level I would like to win the Champions League and La Liga."

In training this week, Ronaldo has been working with Madrid's other injured star, Kaka, who appears to be over his sports hernia and could feature.

Rafael van der Vaart trained alone with a slight problem, but Guti and Ruud van Nistelrooy are the only players out for certain.

Back-to-back defeats have seen Osasuna drop down to 12th in the table, 10 points adrift of the European places.

The visit of Madrid is hardly ideal given the need to quickly reverse fortunes, but there is confidence among the squad thanks to the 1-1 draw they got when Barcelona visited earlier in the season.

"It is a big game because it is Real Madrid, but we have to beat whoever the opponent is because we have suffered consecutive defeats," said Carlos Aranda.

"It should be a high-tempo game, like the visit of Barcelona.

"We have shown that when we are on our game we can beat anyone. We want to be strong and the start the year well. We need to meet our objectives as soon as we can, starting by winning the game on Sunday."

Aranda should be available for selection after shaking off an injury over the Christmas break, and the same goes for Ludovic Delporte and Nacho Monreal.

However, the game will come too soon for Cesar Azpilicueta and Sergio Fernandez, while Oier also remains sidelined.