Real Madrid vs. Schalke Odds, Champions League Betting Preview

Real Madrid Captains Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas are not taking Schalke 04 lightly despite knowing that their team is the favorite to win the round of 16 matchup.

"They are very strong physically and play well on the break," Casillas said, according to Real Madrid News. "We have the advantage of the second leg at home but we'll go to Germany to win and try to go through to the next round.

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"Maybe they are not one of the favorites to win the Champions League, but we will have to play very professionally and respect the other team. We hope to go through to the next round," he added.

Madrid are of course led by the one and only Cristiano Ronaldo. The man scores goals like the Hamburger steals hamburgers and still has time to sell underwear and start social networks. Ronaldo scored nine goals in the group stages -- making him the current top scorer in this season’s tournament -- including three multi-goal matches. If not for an injury keeping out of the second meeting with Galatasaray, he’s probably be in double digits. While the rest of the Madrid attack is dangerous, they’ll need Ronaldo at his best if they want their tenth title.

Key Matchup: Hildebrand vs. Ronaldo

Schalke goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand will be tested time and time again by Cristiano Ronaldo -- his defence isn't going to help much -- and unless he's at his very best he's going to be picking the ball out of the back of his net more than once. But a heroic performance from the veteran goalkeeper could well be the key to Schalke pulling off a miracle.

The key idea has consisted in using Boateng as a central midfielder, together with Neustädter. Although we are used to seeing Boateng in more advanced positions, this new role has revealed his capabilities as a box-to-box player supported in a great physical condition. On the board, we would say that Schalke 04 plays in a 4-2-3-1 system, I believe that the most accurate way to put it is as a 4-1-Boateng-3-1. In defensive phase, however, the system clearly organizes in a 4-4-2, with Boateng at the same height as Neustädter and Meyer upfront, together with Huntelaar.

Schalke with the ball

The miners don't stand out for their elaborate possessions. In fact, this may be their worst feature. When trying to initiate the attack from the defensive line, it is frequent to see how they fastly run out of ideas. This is a clear consequence of the lineup's configuration: both fullbacks go up and no midfielder comes down to receive the ball from the centerbacks, so they normally end up throwing a long ball to Huntelaar, who will try to control it and give it to any of the players behind him to stabilize the possession close to their rival's box.

This manoeuvre is Schalke's best strategy towards building an attack. The seconds Huntelaar wins are enough to make Draxler, Meyer, Boateng or Farfán arrive to the frontline, and their individual talent suffices to build goal ocassions. The contribution of the fullbacks is also remarkable in this setting, arriving to the endline to create a 2 vs 1 duel on each wing.

Schalke's second weapon for scoring is counterattack, and this is basically related to the previous one. Their football is vertical by nature and they base their chances on their speed. If Farfán, Meyer or even the fullbacks have space to run, Draxler will find his way to the ball to give it to the runner in the best possible conditions. Huntelaar and Boateng's physical condition is essential for this to work, since they will be ones responsible for finalizing, and I believe their duel with Pepe and Ramos is disadvantageous in speed terms.