Real Madrid take a two-goal lead into the second leg.
Defending Champions League winners Real Madrid take a two-goal lead into the second leg of their last 16 tie with German club Schalke at the Bernabeu, and are expected to have no difficulty making it to the quarter-finals.
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Carlo Ancelotti’s side go into the game on the back of a surprise defeat to Athletic Bilbao, and have fallen off top spot in La Liga, after Barcelona’s emphatic 6-1 thrashing of Rayo Vallecano.
Here’s how we expect Madrid to line-up…
GK- Iker Casillas
The experienced stopper is expected to keep his starting place, despite understudy Keylor Navas’s strong performances in the competition this season.
RB- Daniel Carvajal
Carvajal made his first appearance in the competition this season last time out in Germany, but has been a regular in the league, and that faith should see him maintain his spot.
CB- Raphael Varane
The Frenchman has appeared in all of Madrid’s Champions League games this campaign, and has been an integral part of the defence that has only conceded two goals in the competition, and none in their last five.
CB- Pepe
Pepe should stave off the threat of the returning Sergio Ramos, who has been out for over a month. The Portuguese defender has only been back in the team for a few games, after he also spent a month on the sidelines.
LB- Marcelo
Like Varane, Marcelo has featured in all of Madrid’s European games this season, and is therefore likely to be one of the first names on Ancelotti’s teamsheet for this game. He scored the second goal in the first leg against Roberto Di Matteo’s side.
CM- Asier Illarramendi
The 25-year-old has featured regularly this season, but mostly from the substitute bench. He did however, start in the defeat against Bilbao, so may well keep his place.
CM- Toni Kroos
Kroos has featured in every Champions League, and La Liga game this season, making his selection nothing less than a formality. As a former Bayern man, he will be relishing the prospect of knocking Schalke out of the competition.
CM- Isco
The Spaniard has featured regularly in the last few weeks, and his only absence in this season’s competition came when he was an unused substitute in the opening game, when Madrid thrashed Basel 5-1.
ST- Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo has come in for plenty of criticism in the past few weeks, but the Ballon D’Or winner has scored three in his last four games – including the opener against Schalke in the first leg – and will be looking forward to proving the doubters wrong.
ST- Karim Benzema
Benzema has featured six times in the competition this season, scoring five goals. But the Frenchman has only scored two in his last seven games in all competitions, so will be looking to improve his form to kill the tie.
ST- Gareth Bale
Like Ronaldo, Bale has not been praised much lately, leading to plenty of rumours that he may be heading back to England in the summer. But, Carlo Ancelotti has not lost faith in the Welshman, who has two goals from his six appearances in the Champions League.