Ramos planning new signings at Real

Real Madrid will be much more competitive after they add two or three players to the squad in the January transfer window and others return from injury, new coach Juande Ramos said.

Ramos suffered a losing start in the league on Saturday when the champions went down 2-0 to leaders Barcelona at the Nou Camp, and Real Madrid are in sixth place after 15 matches, 12 points off the blistering pace set by the Catalans.

The list of Real injured includes defenders Pepe and Gabriel Heinze and midfielder Wesley Sneijder, while knee injuries have ended the seasons of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mahamadou Diarra.

Midfielder Ruben de la Red might not play again this term after his collapse in a King's Cup match in October.

"We are past our low point and after Christmas we will have players back and two or three new signings," Ramos, who was picked to replace Bernd Schuster last week, said in an interview with As newspaper.

Real would be "a team reinforced and very motivated" and if Barcelona slipped up they would be ready to take advantage, the former Sevilla and Tottenham Hotspur boss said.

"The one sure thing is that (Barcelona) will hit a bad patch at some point, as happens to every team with such a challenging calendar," he added.