For Marc Bartra, Wednesday's match away to Real Madrid will be a special moment. That's hardly surprising, as clashes with Los Merengues will always be occasions of great rivalry for a former Barcelona player. But there's another reason, too: as a professional Bartra has never faced Real Madrid, except for one Copa del Rey appearance.

Felix Ulrich reporting from Madrid

As an FC Barcelona player the 25-year-old was included in the squad on several occasions against Los Blancos but never made a La Liga or UEFA Champions League appearance against them. Bartra also missed his new club's 2-2 draw with Real at the end of September due to an adductor injury, but now the Spaniard is finally hoping to buck that trend – and the chances are good that he will start for Borussia on Wednesday evening, meaning he will finally have the chance to take on Real and play in the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

"We are really looking forward to this match," he said at the official press conference, adding that BVB had travelled to Madrid with the aim of following up their wins in Warsaw (6-0) and Lisbon (2-1) with another in the Spanish capital. But even though the Black and Yellows currently boast a two-point lead over Real, Bartra does not see his side as favourites.

"Real are a team with great quality, a team brimming with superstars. We need to give 100 percent if we want to hold our own in the Bernabeu," Bartra continued. A draw – just like four years ago, then the teams drew 2-2 in Madrid – would be enough to see Borussia into the last 16 as group winners, allowing them to circumvent a supposedly stronger opponent.

However, BVB have no intention of playing for a point. Bartra said: "We want to win. But it is going to be difficult, Real create a whole host of chances in every match. We need to remain compact and show concentration in defence, just as we did in the 1-0 win over Bayern, if we want to pick up a good result here."