MADRID, Spain (AP) New Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos admitted even he was uncertain about his quick appointment to replace the fired Bernd Schuster.

"They didn't even give me time to look at myself in the mirror," Ramos said ahead of Wednesday's Champions League match against Zenit St. Petersburg.

"They gave me the tracksuit and I'm not sure if it fits me well. It's normal that with so little time and anticipation that there is a lot of work to do."

Schuster was fired on Tuesday, two days after saying that it would be "impossible" for the two-time defending Spanish champion to win the "clasico" at Barcelona this Saturday. Near-perfect Barcelona leads archrival Madrid by nine points in the table.

"This will be difficult," Ramos said of the task ahead after agreeing to lead the club through this season. "We don't have any idle time. Fatigue is accumulating, the psychological work is very important."

Ramos returns to La Liga, where he won back-to-back UEFA Cups and a Copa del Rey title with Sevilla. Tottenham fired him in October after a year at White Hart Lane with Spurs off to its worst-ever start in the English Premier League.

The 54-year-old Ramos, who also coached at Real Betis and Malaga before joining Sevilla in 2005, won the League Cup with Tottenham in February.

Ramos said he had time to watch six or seven Madrid matches while leading the Premier League club and knew all about the growing injury list and the Spanish powerhouse's defensive shortcomings, and said January signings would come.

Fifth-ranked Madrid, which has lost three of its last four in the league, is without a handful of its international players, and its defense has already allowed 24 goals after 14 games after conceding only 36 in 38 on its way to its record 31st league trophy last season.

"You have to forget about the season (to now)," Ramos said. "With (Iker) Casillas, (Sergio) Ramos, Pepe, (Fabio) Cannavaro, (Gabriel) Heinze, we have the best defense in Europe. There's enough to work with."

Schuster was released after 52 league games and despite having led the club to a second straight league trophy.

But the club had already set a precedent.

Fabio Capello ended Madrid's worst trophy drought in 53 years with a 30th Spanish league triumph but two weeks later in June 2007 he was fired and replaced by Schuster.

Ramos immediately set out to build up the confidence in his players after Schuster all but threw in the towel with his comments. Ramos has one previous victory in eight trips to Camp Nou with Rayo Vallecano during the 1999-2000 season.

"Madrid is a team that whichever game it has to play it will go in with maximum motivation to play it," Ramos said. "Barcelona is playing really well but Madrid is playing well enough to not renounce a victory in any stadium in the world."

But first, Ramos wants Madrid to win against Zenit with pride to play for. Madrid has already clinched its place in the knockout stages.

"Winning a Champions League game is prestigious," Ramos said. "The team needs to win."