On Wednesday, Bundesliga side Schalke 04 will be hosting La Liga giants and reigning Champions League holders Real Madrid. For Italian coach Roberto Di Matteo, he has only one thing on mind; avoid the nightmare of last season.
The 6-1 loss at the Veltins Arena to Los Blancos under the guidance of then manager Jens Keller still lingers in the Schalke supporters' memory. The club then went on to lose the second leg match 3-1 to round up an embarrassing 9-2 defeat at the hands of Les Merengues.
When Die Knappen lock horns with the 10-time Champions League winners, their shaky backline will be tasked with the mission of keeping Carlo Ancelotti's five-star attack at bay.
Karim Benzema is in risk of missing the clash due to a flu, but Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo are set to start, and will be keen on gunning down their opponents. Ronaldo, in particular, will be extra motivated, as he aims to narrow the gap between him and top scorers Luiz Adriano and Lionel Messi.
The Portuguese ace, however, has been in poor lately, failing to score in seven of his last 10 official games for Real Madrid. Nonetheless, Schalke should fear the former Manchester United winger, and the stat below shows WHY.
Why Schalke should fear CR7
Cristiano is Real Madrid's highest goalscorer against German teams in the #UCL with 11 goals. [@ElMadridismo93] pic.twitter.com/RImP3VRL2h
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@RonaIdoStats) February 18, 2015
He is Real Madrid's highest scorer against German sides on the European stage, with a whopping 11 goals. Last season alone, en route to La Decima, the three-time Ballon d'Or winner found the back of the net seven times against teams from the Bundesliga, with four of those coming against Schalke.
The Real Madrid ace, however, has not been in the greatest of forms recently, failing to score in 7 of his last 10 official games for Los Blancos
Cristiano Ronaldo has failed to score in 7 of his last 10 official games for Real Madrid: 0-0-1-0-0-1-2-0-0-0
— Ramon Min (English) (@MilestoneMin) February 18, 2015
So how can Di Matteo's defense prevent Ronaldo from scoring? Maybe this is the answer:
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