Luxemburgo prepares for brief encounter at the Bernabeu

Vanderlei Luxemburgo is preparing for a bizarre debut as Real Madrid coach on Wednesday (kickoff 1700 GMT) when he takes charge for the remaining seven minutes of his side's league match against Real Sociedad.

The Brazilian, who was appointed coach in a whirlwind deal last week, will barely have time to settle into the dugout to watch his team complete a game that was abandoned because of a bomb scare last month.

Players, fans and officials were forced to evacuate the Bernabeu three minutes from time with the scores at 1-1 after police received a warning that a bomb would explode at the stadium.

With the referee deciding to add four minutes of extra time the two teams will now play the remainder of the match in what promises to be a one of the briefest encounters in footballing history.

It is not the first time that a game at the Bernabeu has had to be abandoned and then completed at a later date and judging by past events neither side can take anything for granted.

The King's Cup final between Deportivo Coruna and Valencia was abandoned in the 79th minute with the scores at 1-1 after torrential rain flooded the Real Madrid stadium in 1995.

The game was restarted 72 hours later with Deportivo midfielder Alfredo scoring in the opening minute to ensure the Galicians of a first major trophy in the history of the club.

For Wednesday's game both clubs will be permitted to make changes to the teams that had to leave the pitch on December 12, but Real's Luis Figo will be unavailable because he was replaced by Michael Owen in the original match.

Sociedad winger Valery Karpin is expected to play after missing the original game through injury and Mikel Alonso is likely to be drafted in to replace Mikel Arteta in midfield.

Luxemburgo's appointment as Real Madrid coach was prompted by the team's miserable performance in their 1-0 home defeat by Sevilla in the final match of last year.

His side now trail leaders Barcelona by 13 points with two games to go before the halfway point in the season.

"I don't think any coach has made a debut like this before," he told sports daily Marca on Tuesday. "There is still time to win the game and there are lot of things that we can do, although I'm not going to let on what they are."

Sociedad forward Nihat Kahveci, who scored the equaliser in the first game, also believes there is time for his side to grab all three points.

"Real are going to come out with all guns firing in the hope of scoring a goal but we are going to be doing the same," he said on Monday. "There are bound to be some chances and it is just a case of making the most of any opportunity that comes our way."