Schalke 04 vs Real Madrid, UEFA Champions League Preview February 26, 2014

Real Madrid vs Schalke 04 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 , 1st leg Wednesday 26-2-2014

Schalke 04 vs Real Madrid Champions League:
 

Date: February 26, 2014 7:45 PM GMT

KICK-OFF: Wednesday, 7.45pm

Venue: Veltins-Arena — Gelsenkirchen

Referee:‬ H. Webb‎
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Competition: UEFA Champions league 2013-14

Head to Head: This is the first competitive meeting between Schalke and Real Madrid.

TV on : ZDF, beIN Sports, beIN SPORTS HD , C+ Liga Campeones, Canal+, CT Sport , Sky Calcio 1, Sky sport 1 , Futbol 2 , NTV Plus, SuperSport 

 

 

 FC Schalke 04:
The FC Schalke 04 host Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday evening. Real arrive as clear favourites in Gelsenkirchen, but Schalke performed well the recent weeks and have nothing to lose in this encounter.

The FC Schalke made a very good start to the new year, Schalke are unbeaten in their last 8 games in all competitions, including all 5 games since returning from the winter break which will give them confidence ahead of this game. They are unbeaten in 5 games at home, but saw their 4 game winning run come to an end this weekend when they could only earn a goalless draw with Mainz.

The German team have a number of injury worries ahead of the welcome of Real, with Marco Höger, Dennis Aogo, Atsuto Uchida and Christian Clemens all sidelined. Draxler, who garnered transfer interest from Arsenal and Real, is also hobbled by a thigh injury, but he should play

Real Madrid:
The Spanish giants travel to the Veltins Arena for the first-leg of their last 16 tie with Schalke having won just one of their previous 25 visits to German opposition, with their solitary victory coming against Bayer Leverkusen in 2000.

However, Carlo Ancelotti's in-form side should be confident going into the clash in Gelsenkirchen, having moved three points clear at the top of La Liga last weekend.

Real Madrid are now unbeaten in their last 26 games in all competitions and they have won 5 in a row and 13 of their last 14 games which will give the side plenty of confidence and belief moving forward. Real Madrid are also unbeaten in their last 14 away games and have won 7 of their last 8 on their travels.

Sami Khedira is Carlo Ancelotti's only injury concern, while Gareth Bale and Luka Modric are both doubts. Marcelo and Fabio Coentrao are likely to be in contention for starting places after they missed the weekend’s triumph over Elche.

channels broadcast match live:

India: Ten Action, TEN HD

Spain: C+ Liga de Campeones / HD

Germany: Sky Sports 2, ZDF, ZDF Zatoo, Sky Go

USA: Fox Sports Plus, Fox Sports 2 USA, SiriusXM FC

UK: Sky Sports Red Button, Sky Sports 4 / HD

Portugal: TV1.

Argentina: ESPN Play Latin America, ESPN Cono Norte, ESPN Play Argentina.

Arabe : beIN SPORTS 1, beIN SPORTS 3, beIN SPORTS HD 1, beIN SPORTS HD 3

PROBABLE LINEUPS:

Schalke : Hildebrand, Hooglan , Matip , Santana , Kolasinac , Neustädter , Boateng , Farfan , Draxler , Meyer , Huntelaar .

Real Madrid : Casillas , Carvajal , Ramos , Pepe , Marcelo , Alonso , Modric , Di Maria , Gareth Bale , Cristiano Ronaldo , Benzema .