PARIS, Mar 2: Real Madrid, the defending European champions, face probably the most important match of their season on Wednesday night when they host Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine in a first leg European Cup quarterfinal, reports AFP.

Real, who sacked coach Guus Hiddink last week and replaced him with Welshman John Toshack. may need to retain their title to have a chance of a place in the rich new-look competition next season.

Real are currently In seventh place — seven points behind Spanish league leaders Barcelona — meaning they have an uphill climb to seal a top three finish and ensure their participation.

The other quarter-final first-leg matches on Wednesday night feature the mouth-watering Manchester United-Inter Milan clash at Old Trafford, the all-German meeting between Bayern Munich and Kaiserslautern and struggling Juventus' match against Olyrnpiakos.

Spanish giants Real, who

have one of the worst defences in Spain, will need to find a way to stop'one of the most devastating strike-forces in Europe.

The Kiev duo of Serhi Rebrov and Andri Shevchenko have shared seven goals thus far in the Competition.

Shevchenko, who has been labelled the 'Ronaldo of the east.' and Rebrov scored 41 goals between them in last year's Ukrainian Championship while they also scored seven goals apiece as Kiev, twice European Cyp Winners' Cup champions, reached last year's European Cup quarterfinals.

Real will be without two veteran defenders: the outstanding Fernando Hierro and Manuel Sanchis and Shevchenko and Rebrov will be licking their lips at tracking on the less experi-

enced duo of Ivan Campo and Fernando Sanz.

Kiev are not the only team with a potent strike force, however. Real can boast the likes of the league's leading scorer in Raul, last year's European Cup goalscoring hero Predrag Mijatovic and Spanish international Femado Morientes, who looks like playing a lone role up front.

This trio will have been boosted by the news that two of Kiev's first-choice defenders. Yuri Dmytrulin and Oleh Luzh-nyi will be absent through injury and suspension respectively.

The United-Inter-niatch could be a classic, with the English club convinced they are finally ready to regain a trophy they last won back in 1968.

"It took us a while to get the right blend in the Premiership and then we won it. then we came to dominate it." said Welsh wing wizard Ryam Giggs.

"I think we can do the same in Europe."

Manager Alex Ferguson believes his side now has the maturity to compete with the best clubs in the world after previous abortive assaults on the Champions League.

"You hope the players have learned all the little lessons of Europe." said Ferguson. 'There is no question that in terms of ability we have an outstanding chance."

Fired by goal gluttons Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, who shared nine goals between them in the Champions' League before Christmas and have scored a total of 41 goals this season. United have roared four Saints clear at the top of the nglish Premiership and play host to Chelsea in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Sunday.

United's chances are boosted by the fact that Inter — European champions in 1964 and 1965 — are currently floundering in the middle of an Indifferent run that has seen them slip to sixth in Serie A and with ace Brazilian striker Ronaldo a shadow of his former self.

Ronaldo, who has been struggling with knee injuries and an alarming lack of form since the World Cup, is rated by Inter officials as "99 per cent certain” not to be fit for Wednesday's clash.

But in Chilean Ivan Zamorano, Frenchman Youri Djorkaeff and Italian veteran Roberto Baggio, coach Mircea Lucescu is hardly short of attacking options.

"We've got to score a goal at Old Trafford," goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca said. "If we can do that, we'll have a great chance of going through."

Bayern have been so dominant in Germany this season that Kaiserslautern's veteran trainer Otto Rehhagel knows he must pull a rabbit out of the hat if his side are to cause an upset.

Rehhagel has likened Bayern to a luxury Mercedes car — while the rest of Germany's Bundesliga clubs are limping along in Volkswagens.

Kaiserslautern face a Bayern team in such scintillating form that they have a realistic shot at pulling off a rare triple: winning the European Champions' trophy, the Bundesliga crown and the German Cup.

Kaiserslautern's problems are multiplied by the absence of I heir injured leading striker Olaf Marschall.

Rehhagel says Bayern are simply too rich for the other German clubs to keep up with, but Bayern will not be suckered into taking Kaiserslautern lightly — they remember well that the provincial club won the Bundesliga last season-

"Otto is trying to whip up everyone against us. that's how he does things." said Bayern manager. Uli Hoeness. "But we are not going to fall for it and let ourselves be caught napping."

In Turin. Juventus coach Carlo Ancelotti will open his bid to lift the European Cup for the third time in 10 years.

Ancelotti, who won Europe's most coveted club trophy as an AC Milan midfielder in 1989 and 1990. took charge of Juventus barely a month ago after the resignation of coach Marcello Lippi.

Lippi's is a tough act to follow in the Champions League, having guided the Turin team to three consecutive finals — winning in 1996 but losing in 1997 and 1998.

The baptism of fire will be even harder without Juventus' top scorer ever in the tournament. Alessandro del Piero, whose season ended last November with an injury at Udine and surgery in Vail. Colorado.

The striking responsibility will be shouldered instead by striker Filippo Inzaghi and creative French star Zinedine Zidane as Juventus seek a win, however narrow, without giving the Greeks an away goal.

French man Thierry Henry is cup-tied, having already played for Monaco in the UEFA Cup this season while Uruguayan Daniel Fonseca is set for the subs' bench and Ar-Ktine Juan Esnalder is fit but n't looked dangerous.