Madrid - The fans of Real Madrid appear pessimistic about the chances of newly-hired Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Lassana Diarra both playing in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

An online poll taken by sports daily Marca, in which 31,361 readers had voted by Tuesday, only 10.6 per cent of the readers think that Real will be able to register both of their new signings.

But 89.41 per cent are convinced that UEFA will not bend its rules for the record European champions.

UEFA spokesman William Gaillard made it clear on Monday that article 17.18 of UEFA's rules states that only one of Huntelaar and Diarra can play in the Champions League as both have already represented their former clubs (Ajax and Portsmouth) in the UEFA Cup this season.

"I am very sorry," said Gaillard, "but the rules are what they are and they cannot be changed in the middle of a season," he said.

"That means that only one of the two players can play in the Champions League. They can include either Huntelaar or Diarra."

Real sporting director Pedja Mijatovic has taken massive flak from the Spanish media for not being aware of this rule when he splashed out almost 40 million euros (56.76 million dollars) on the pair recently.

Several fans' blogs and online polls have called for the unpopular Mijatovic to resign because of the mistake - or for club president Ramon Calderon to sack him.

Marca said on Tuesday that Calderon - himself an unpopular figure nowadays, with Real fifth in La Liga, 12 points behind record- breaking leaders Barcelona - is considering taking the case to the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Unless UEFA decides to bend the rules for Real, which seems highly unlikely, coach Juande Ramos will have to decide between Huntelaar and Diarra.

Another online poll in Marca showed that most Real fans would prefer Huntelaar to be inscribed, but Ramos seems inclined to opt for Diarra - especially after Huntelaar arrived late to his first training session on Monday.

Real have been drawn against Premier League leaders Liverpool in the Champions League round of 16, with the first leg to be played in the Estadio Bernabeu on February 25 and the return leg at Anfield on March 10.