Today at 2:45 p.m. ET, Real Madrid and Juventus go head-to-head in UEFA Champions League Group B action live from Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Spain. The game can be live streamed here.
Gareth Bale has only made one start for Real Madrid since his move from Tottenham in the summer, and Cristiano Ronaldo has asked the fans to ease their pressure on Bale, who returned from a thigh injury for Saturday's 2-0 victory over Malaga.
Bale is set to play more minutes today as he eases his way back into the thick of things, and Ronaldo said Tuesday that Bale has been adjusting well to Madrid's style of play, but can do without all of the outside pressure.
"I think he is doing well. Since he arrived he's had it a bit tough, he didn't have a pre-season and he was injured so it's not been easy for him, but you can see how excited he is to be here," the Portuguese superstar told ESPN. "We shouldn't put too much pressure on him, that's not good for him. He always wants to learn and we have to try and help him, not put pressure on him, and leave him alone, because I'm certain he'll be very good for the team."
Madrid is on top of Champions League Group B entering today's game following a 6-1 opening defeat of Galatasaray and a 4-0 victory over FC Copenhagen at home.
After playing and tying the same two teams, Juventus enters the game second in the group but has just two points after a 1-1 draw with Copenhagen and a 2-2 tie with Galatasaray.
While on paper it would seem as though Juventus needs the points more, Ronaldo dismissed the notion that the game was more important to Juventus than Madrid.
"We have six points and no-one qualifies with just six points so we need to win the game," he said via ESPN.
Raphael Varane and Karim Benzema are both expected to return for Madrid while Xabi Alonso remains sidelined.
While the match will be very important for Juventus, coach Antonio Conte said that it won't make or break his squad if it loses.
"I believe tomorrow's result will not say anything about what will happen in the group. There are three games left [after the match at the Bernabeu]," he told ESPN Tuesday.
Real Madrid will look to keep the goals coming after scoring 10 goals in two games while Juventus will try to get some much needed points when these teams square off this afternoon.
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