The Champions League is back, Real Madrid kicking off the knock-out stage with a 0-2 victory at Schalke ’04. Casillas had to make an early save from Huntelaar (who later went off injured), but Cristiano Ronaldo headed Ancelotti’s side into the lead from a Dani Carvajal cross midway through the first half. Young keeper Wellenreuther made good saves from a shot by Benzema and a Ronaldo free kick before the break, and Isco fired a shot over the top after Bale put him through early on in the second half. The German side went close to levelling it though with a quarter of an hour to go, Platte firing a shot against the crossbar and Uchida’s follow up deflecting off a defender into the hands of Casillas. However a few minutes later Ronaldo cut past two defenders and played the ball through for Marcelo to fire a right-foot shot in off the crossbar, giving his team a tenth win in a row in the competition. A victory in the return leg at the Bernabeu in three weeks time would make it eleven, beating the previous best set by Bayern Munich just over a year ago. (18.02.15)