Champions League: Shaky Real ready for challenge against Schalke

Los Blancos have witnessed a slump in form after embarking on a 22-game unbeaten streak

MADRID/PORTO: European champions Real Madrid will expect to take another step closer to becoming the first team in 25 years to retain the Champions League when they host Schalke on Tuesday holding a 2-0 lead from the first leg of their last-16 tie.

Madrid have strung together 10 consecutive victories in Europe stretching back to their successful run to their 10th European Cup last season, but have found the going a lot tougher domestically in 2015.

Los Blancos surrendered their lead at the top of La Liga at the weekend as they were beaten 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao, whilst Barcelona thrashed Rayo Vallecano 6-1.

That was Madrid's fourth defeat in 14 games this year with coach Carlo Ancelotti admitting he was at a loss to explain how his star-studded strike force of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale has so suddenly gone off the boil.

"It seems strange to say Madrid have a problem up front when we have scored so many goals throughout the season, but I think it is the truth," said the Italian.

However, captain Iker Casillas has insisted that they won't suffer a hangover from their La Liga woes at the Bernabeu.

"This competition is different. For Madrid fans it means everything," said Casillas.

Schalke were on the receiving end on Real's run towards the title at the same stage of the competition last season in a 9-2 aggregate hammering.

And Casillas is adamant that Ancelotti's men still have all the qualities required to go all the way once more.

"We know that it will be very difficult but we will fight to achieve it. We are ambitious and we have a mixture of youth and experience so why not?” he added.

 

Porto hit with Martinez blow

FC Porto come into the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Swiss champions Basel on Tuesday with the upper hand but with serious concerns over the fitness of their leading scorer, Jackson Martinez.

The Portuguese club has the edge in the tie after a 1-1 draw in Switzerland in the first leg last month but were dealt a potentially serious blow when Martinez came off with a thigh injury in Friday's 1-0 win at Braga that could keep him out for up to three weeks.

The Colombian star has scored 17 goals in the Portuguese league this season and six times on Porto's run in the Champions League, so it is little wonder that the Dragons are sweating on his fitness.

"We are talking about a player who is mentioned for his goals but he is about so much more than that. He is an example to everyone for his character and his professionalism," said coach Julen Lopetegui. "If he came off it wasn't for nothing. The squad needs to be ready."

The two-time European champions are aiming to return to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2009, when they were eliminated by a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Manchester United.

 

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