Real Madrid have been drawn against German side Schalke in the last 16 of the Champions League.
The defending champions met the Bundesliga side at the same stage last season, winning both games, 6-1 and 3-1 to ease into the quarter finals. Los Blancos will head to the Veltins Arena for the first leg on 17th or 18th February and will host the return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on the 10th or 11th March.
The match-up against Schalke will see Jese Rodriguez come up against the side he was playing against when he suffered a serious knee injury last season. The young Real forward was stretchered off in just the fourth minute of the second leg and only recently made his return to first team football. He will no doubt be keen to make up for lost time.
For the Germans, they face perhaps an even tougher task than last season. Carlo Ancelotti’s men cruised through the group stage, winning all six matches. They have set a new record in Spain having won their last 20 matches, and are determined to become the first team to win the trophy back-to-back since it took on its current format.
Schalke have had a slow start to the campaign, but since appointing Roberto di Matteo as boss, the man who lead Chelsea to the Champions League title in 2012, they have picked up and are fighting in the European places in the league.
Their main threat up front is Klass Jan Huntelaar, who played for Real Madrid in 2009 before leaving for AC Milan.
