Real Madrid will be traveling to Germany in a very good mood as they have just extended their Primera Liga lead to three points last weekend. The Blancos visit Schalke on Wednesday as they look to move closer to the Champions League quarter-finals. However, Real Madrid have won just one of their previous 25 visits to Germany, that win was over Bayer Leverkusen in 2000.
Real Madrid have secured 15 wins out of their last 16 games in all competitions, with just two goals conceded in their last five matches. Cristiano Ronaldo bagged nine goals in the Champions League this season, a record for the group stage. The Portuguese star missed the club's last three league games through suspension, so this match will be a comeback for him. "Before we play Schalke we'll have to see how recent injury victims Marcelo and Coentrao are," coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "We will play the strongest possible team. Now all the matches are extremely important. It might be a case of whoever doesn't play on Wednesday will play on Sunday against Atletico Madrid."
Schalke are in great form as well, they had a 100 per cent record since the Bundesliga's winter break until last Friday's goalless draw with Mainz. They are fourth in the Bundesliga and should field a full-strength attack with Julian Draxler, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Max Meyer behind former Real Madrid strike Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. "I think our best weapon is our attacking play. We can score a goal at any point during the match and we are always a threat up front," Huntelaar said. "You know that Germany tends to be a nightmare for Real Madrid. It's a good sign but we will see what happens. After all, this is football."
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Schalke win - 7/1
Draw - 15/4
Real Madrid win - 9/20
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