Real Madrid keen to start with a win.

Last year, Real Madrid started its Champions League campaign with a 3-0 loss to French club Lyon. The two sides meet again on Wednesday in the competition's opening round.

Nine-time champion Real Madrid was knocked out by eventual runner-up Arsenal in last season's second stage. Lyon also was eliminated in round two, by PSV Eindhoven.

Madrid now has Arsenal midfielder Jose Antonio Reyes on its squad, and he made his debut on Sunday in a 4-1 win over Levante - a match in which new striker Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a hat trick.

"We play our first Champions League match on Wednesday, and ... (Levante) served as a confidence boost heading into that game," van Nistelrooy said. "It is a very important match for us."

They were van Nistelrooy's first goals for the club since moving from Manchester United in the offseason. Madrid will be without Michel Salgado and Ronaldo for the Lyon match because of knee injuries.

Madrid appointed Fabio Capello as coach in a bid to win its first silverware since 2003. Capello, who won the league with Madrid in 1997, has strengthened the team with the acquisitions of Fabio Cannavaro and Emerson from Juventus, and Lyon's Mahamadou Diarra.

Capello wants greater concentration tomorrow after complaining his side slacked off after going up 2-0 up over Levante.

"We didn't react to the ball and we didn't make long passes or feed the attack," Capello said. "We need to be faster and open up the field more." Lyon, the five-time defending champion in the French league, warmed up for the Madrid match with a 2-0 win over Troyes.