Real out of form but back in winning habit

Real Madrid may have been well below their best in recent games but they will still be strong favourites going into Tuesday's Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund, according to midfielder Santiago Solari.

Real were lucky to beat Dortmund 2-1 at the Bernabeu last week when Raul scored a bizarre goal to equalise Jan Koller's opener and Ronaldo's weak shot squeezed through the hands of Jens Lehmann for the winner.

Vicente del Bosque's side then turned in one of their worst home displays of recent seasons yet still managed to beat a woeful Valladolid side 3-1 with goals from Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo and Javier Portillo.

Another victory over Dortmund would put the reigning European champions back on course to reach the quarter-finals with seven points from four Group C games and Solari is convinced the result will come even if the side's form fails to pick up.

"We always start as favourites," the Argentine midfielder said before the squad left Madrid.

"That's not just because we're the European champions but because of all the titles we've won in recent years."

"Of course it's better to win while you're playing well but playing badly and still winning is vitally important."

"If we play badly and win in Germany I'll be delighted. If we play well then so much the better but I believe we are going to win and that's the attitude we'll be taking into the game."

Real have conceded the first goal in their last five games, coming back to win in three, drawing one and losing the other, and Solari recognised that the side will have to kick the habit sooner rather than later.

"We have to keep concentration better in the early part of games," Solari said. "We've shown a lot of character coming from behind in recent matches but we can't carry on making these bad starts."