Former Real Madrid and Schalke midfielder Jose Manuel Jurado believes Los Blancos will win out in the Champions League tie between the sides.
Jurado, now at Spartak Moscow, began his career with Real Madrid Castilla and made a handful of appearances for the first team before crossing the city to join Atletico Madrid.
He later spent a few years at Schalke before switching to Russia and ahead of the match between Schalke and Madrid, told Marca that he expects a top-draw match.
“[Madrid] look very strong to me, confident. I think it will be a great European tie,” Jurado predicted.
“I had two great seasons in Germany. I have fond memories of my times there. Schalke is a friendly club where I really enjoyed my time.
“[The Veltins-Arena] is a spectacular stadium and the fans there are incredible. Madrid will need to watch out.”
Jurado was reluctant to make too precise a prediction but did put his faith in Carlo Ancelotti’s team to take the two-legged tie.
“I'm not going to risk predicting a specific score for the game, but I think that Real can break its bad run of results in Germany,” Jurado added.
