What: Champions League Round of 16 – Second leg
Who: Real Madrid (6) vs Schalke (1) (First leg score in brackets)
When: Tuesday 18th March, 2014, at 19:45 UK Time
Where: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain
Barcelona in Mind
Real Madrid will face Barcelona this weekend in what will be a pivotal clash that will have a great say as to the identity of this season’s La Liga champions. However, Los Merengues will have another 90 minutes before their highly-anticipated Clasico meeting, as they have to confirm their superiority over Schalke. Luckily for them, they came back with a 6-1 win over the Germans in Gelsenkirchen a few weeks ago and as thus are almost one hundred per cent guaranteed to go through to the quarter-finals.
The home side boast a favourable record against German opposition at the Santiago Bernabeu, winning 19 of the 25 times they hosted these visitors, with the most recent one being a 2-0 win against eventual Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund. This was however not enough for Los Blancos as they had fallen to a 4-1 defeat at Signal Iduna Park.
The first leg means that Carlo Ancelotti will allow some valuable playing time to some of his fringe players as he hopes to have the majority of his starting eleven fresh for the clash against Barcelona. That said, expect Alvaro Morata, Jese, Asier Illarramendi, Casemiro and Isco to all feature in this.
Conceding Defeat
Never such a huge gap in Champions League history been reversed in the second leg. Having fallen 6-1 on their own turf, Schalke will need nothing short of a miracle to overcome the nine-time competition winners and go on to the next round. That said, they will fight with all their power to ensure that they earn a decent result before going out of the competition.
This feeling has been expressed by Benedikt Howedes, who was hopeful that his side will be able to have the best send-off they can from the competition.
“We want to sign off from Europe on a high note. Unfortunately, losing 6-1 to Real brought a good Champions League season to an end. What’s more important now is that the last impression we leave in this year’s competition is positive for us and the club”, declared the team captain.
Besides the first leg scoreline, the stats are not in Schalke’s favour, as they have won just two of the twelve games they played on Spanish soil, with their most recent triumph being against Espanyol in a 3-0 winning effort in the 2005/06 edition of the UEFA Cup – the Europa League’s predecessor.
Recent form
Real Madrid:
Atletico Madrid 2-2 Real Madrid (02/03; La Liga)
Real Madrid 3-0 Levante (09/03; La Liga)
Malaga 0-1 Real Madrid (15/03; La Liga)
Schalke:
Bayern Munich 5-1 Schalke (01/03; Bundesliga)
Schalke 4-0 Hoffenheim (08/03; Bundesliga)
Augsburg 1-2 Schalke (14/03; Bundesliga)
Key absences
Real Madrid: Alvaro Arbeloa; Sami Khedira; Karim Benzema (doubt)
Schalke: Christian Fuchs; Jefferson Farfan; Atsuto Uchida; Jan Kirchhoff; Christian Clemens; Dennis Aogo; Marco Hoger; Rene Klingenburg; Felipe Santana
Players to watch
Real Madrid – Isco: The former Malaga man is now a fringe player for Ancelotti, having failed to adapt to his 4-3-3 formation after having been so influential for the side at the beginning of the season. Against his former side at the weekend, he was substituted on the hour-mark after being largely indifferent. Fans will be hoping for a better showing this time around.
Schalke – Klaas-Jan Huntelaar: The Dutchman returns to his former stomping ground, where he spent six months in the 2008/09 season. The ex-Ajax striker hit a sensational – albeit meaningless – consolation goal in the first leg, and will be hoping for another few before he exits the competition.
Match Prediction
This is a foregone conclusion, as Schalke have no hope of reversing the first leg score. Even with their fringe players, Real Madrid are still one of the best sides around, and will certainly get the win that will see the Germans crash out and them to the next round.
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