Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed Jese will start with Alvaro Morata and Cristiano Ronaldo against Schalke tonight.
Real Madrid lead the Bundesliga side 6-1 from the first leg at Veltins-Arena and with the Clasico to come on Sunday, Ancelotti revealed at his pre-match Press conference that Karim Benzema will not be risked.
The Coach added that as yet there are no guarantees Benzema will be fit to play Barcelona either.
“[Benzema is] a very important player for us, not just because he scores but for the way he plays,” Ancelotti said.
“We’ll see how he responds to treatment. If he can’t play on Sunday, someone else will.
“He won’t be able to play [against Schalke] but we’re hopeful that he’ll be back for Sunday’s game.
“Jese will start [in the Champions League]. Our forward line will be Morata, Jese and Cristiano. Jese is lucky. I had to wait until I was 30 before my first press conference in the Champions League, and he’s still only 21,” Ancelotti added of the youngster who joined him in front of reporters.
“We’ll be making a few changes because our last two games required a great physical effort,” Ancelotti confirmed.
“We’ve also had to travel and hardly had much rest. So this is a good moment for some players to take a rest.
“The team’s in good form,” Ancelotti continued.
“We have to put in a good game [on Tuesday]. It’s an important Champions League game and we need to prolong the good moment we are in as that will give us extra confidence.
“We need to show respect for our profession, the competition and the opposing team.”
Ancelotti also shared some of his thoughts prior to playing Barcelona.
“I’ve always considered Barcelona to be a strong side – everyone thinks that too,” he said of the Catalans.
“They may have had a few problems but they have resolved their most recent games well. Sunday’s match will be evenly-balanced.”
