This Tuesday, March 18, 2014, Real Madrid will entertain Schalke 04 at the splendid Santiago Bernabéu for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League last 16. The match will certainly be a walk in the park for los Blancos after their goal galore and convincing 6-1 win at the Veltins Arena three weeks ago. Die Königsblauen will need to produce something very special and wait for Real Madrid players to have a very negative night if they want to take something positive from the match and even dream about an unlikely comeback.
Real Madrid is enjoying a fantastic moment in all the competitions they are involved. Carlo Ancelotti’s boys are at the top of Liga BBVA and so far they’ve managed to keep their closest rivals, Atlético Madrid and Barcelona at bay; particularly after last weekend when they defeated Malaga at La Rosaleda with a lonely goal from Cristiano Ronaldo.
Carlo Ancelotti will not be able to count on Sami Khedira, who is still recovering from a long term injury, and with Arbeloa that is also sidelined due to injury. Recent reports from Madrid also tell us that the French international Karim Benzema will also miss the match due to last minute physical problems.
As for Schalke 04, next Tuesday’s match will be somewhat important for the team to clean the negative image they left during the first leg match at Gelsenkirchen. Jens Keller will need to find the proper words to motivate his players in order for them to quickly forget what happened three weeks ago. Schalke 04 is enjoying a positive moment at the Bundesliga and after their narrow win against Augsburg last weekend they climbed to the third place of the table, changing places with Bayer Leverkusen, and placing themselves right behind Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
Jens Keller will have almost all his players at his disposal with the exception of the Peruvian international Jefferson Farfan, who is sidelined due to some niggling knee complaint.
Real Madrid vs Schalke 04 Prediction
Next Tuesday’s match will certainly only serve for Real Madrid to grant their place on the next stage of the competition; however, one should expect Schalke 04 to be able to correct the sloppy defence line performance from both teams’ last clash and leave a positive image of themselves for future memory. This being said, the most likely outcome is 2-0 for Real Madrid.
Real Madrid vs Schalke 04 TV Schedule
The Real Madrid vs Schalke 04 match will be televised on FOX Deportes and FOX Sports 2 (USA) at 12:45 PM Pacific. For all other regions check LiveSoccerTV.
