Ancellotti's Ready for Schalke

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Cristiano Ronaldo is available for the first leg of Real Madrid's Champions League last-16 tie against Schalke following a three-match domestic ban.

The Portuguese, 29, was shown a red card in the 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao. on 2 February.

In Ronaldo's absence, world-record signing Gareth Bale has started Real's last three league games, scoring twice.

"We'll need a little miracle," said Schalke coach Jens Keller of his side's chances against the Spanish giants.

Schalke lie fourth in the Bundesliga, 21 points off leaders Bayern Munich, and drew 0-0 at home to Mainz on Friday.

Keller can take hope from nine-time European Cup winners Real's miserable record on German soil.

Real's 4-1 defeat in the first leg of last year's Champions League semi-final against Borussia Dortmund was their 18th defeat in 25 visits to German opposition.

A 3-2 win away to Bayer Leverkusen in the 2000-01 tournament is their only win away to a German club.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas says he and his team-mates must be prepared for the different challenge that Schalke will set compared to their domestic Spanish opposition.

"Being a German team, Schalke has great physical presence," he said.

"It is mounting a comeback in the Bundesliga. It stuttered a little early on but it is turning things around and is now back in the top four.

"But we are giving away few chances on goal and playing solid in attack, and certain players are really on form."

One of those in form is certainly Ronaldo who has scored 31 goals in 26 games for Real this season, including nine in the group stages.

He has also scored in the home and away legs of Real's Champions League last-16 ties in the last two years.

Bale, signed from Tottenham for £85m in September, has been less prolific, but manager Carlo Ancelotti believes the Welshman's long-range strike in the 3-0 win over Elche on Saturday has given him new self-belief.

"He had no confidence before that incredible goal and after it, he played an entirely different game,'' said Ancelotti.

"He played well enough before the goal but fantastic afterward."

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Schalke 04 v Arsenal - Preview

Arsenal could be without Theo Walcott when they take on Schalke with their UEFA Champions League participation in doubt.

If the Gunners lose to Schalke in Germany on Tuesday evening, then Arsene Wenger's side could be on the brink of elimination from the Champions League group stages for the first time in 13 campaigns.

Defeat by the Bundesliga club at Emirates Stadium on Matchday Three saw the Gunners surrender a 45-game unbeaten streak at home to continental opposition and leaves them second in Group B.

Arsenal only trail Schalke by one point but are also just three points ahead of third-placed Olympiakos, who host Montpellier, and it could be set for a tense conclusion to the group.

That is the last thing Wenger, who has now completed the final match of his three-game touchline ban in Europe, needs at a time when his club are under mass scrutiny.

Defeats by Norwich City and Manchester United as well as a much-publicised AGM have surrounded the loss to Schalke and the dramatic 7-5 Capital One Cup win over Reading only really papered over the cracks.

Another setback in the shape of a loss to Huub Stevens' side in Gelsenkirchen would therefore put an immense amount of pressure on Wenger.

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Arsenal v Schalke 04 - Preview

Central defender Laurent Koscielny has returned to the Arsenal squad after missing Saturday's defeat against Norwich with a back injury.

But forward Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain misses out with the hip injury he picked up against the Canaries.

Jack Wilshere, Emmanuel Frimpong and Bacary Sagna played for the Under-21 side on Monday as they recover from injuries and are unlikely to feature.

Theo Walcott did a running session on Tuesday but he is not match fit.

Walcott has not played since he injured his chest in a collision with San Marino goalkeeper Aldo Simoncini in England's 5-0 win on 12 October, while defender Kieran Gibbs also remains sidelined with a thigh injury.

Wilshere was included in the squad that travelled to Norwich as he closes in on a return to first-team football after 14 months out with ankle and knee problems.

But after playing the full 90 minutes for the Gunners U-21s on Monday, Wenger hinted that Wednesday's game would come too soon for Wilshere, as well as Frimpong and Sagna.

"We will see how they recover but 48 hours later is too dangerous," said Wenger on Tuesday.

Schalke, who defeated Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Saturday, have injury concerns ahead of the fixture.

Attacking midfielder Julian Draxler, 19, is a major doubt for the German side after breaking his left wrist in the 2-2 draw against Montpellier at the start of the month.

Greece defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos returned to training on Sunday after more than two weeks out with chicken pox, but there is a doubt over the 20-year-old's match fitness.

Schalke are the only Bundesliga team that has not lost a competitive game away from home this season, but they have not won in England in five attempts.

"It won't be easy for us," said defender Benedikt Hoewedes. "In London we'll have to throw everything into the pot (but) with our fans behind us, I'm sure we can get a good result."

Both teams have the same coaches in charge as when the two sides last met in the Champions League during the 2001-02 season, when Arsenal won 3-2 win at Highbury before losing 3-1 in Germany.

Arsene Wenger has been a continual presence at Arsenal, while Huub Stevens is now in his second stint at Schalke.

"Our young team is still developing," said Stevens after the win in Dortmund. "But the players have shown what they are capable of."

Arsenal (from): Mannone, Santos, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Jenkinson, Cazorla, Arteta, Ramsey, Gervinho, Podolski, Giroud, Martinez, Coquelin, Djourou, Koscielny, Arshavin, Chamakh, Frimpong, Gnabry.

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