Real Madrid made it through to the Champions League quarterfinals, but not without yet another defeat, the team's second in a row on Wednesday to a tough Schalke 04 team in the second leg of the Champions League's Round of 16. Here are some things we learned from Madrid's 4-3 defeat against Schalke 04.
The Champions League returns on Tuesday with two decisive matches. The first game features an interesting contest between FC Basel and Portuguese side Porto while the second game of the day will be contested at the Santiago Bernabeu between Real Madrid and Schalke 04.
A year ago, Real Madrid headed to Schalke 04 with a lot of question marks. Of the 25 games the team had played on German soil heading into this matchup, it had won one, drawn six and lost an appalling 18.
This Madrid side knew that to make a deep run it would have to break the curse and did it ever. After plundering Schalke 6-1 on the road and running away with a 9-2 aggregate win, Los Blancos would overcome Borussia Dortmund 3-2 (though losing 2-0 in Dortmund) before making the statement of all statements in a 5-0 annihilation of then reigning Champions Bayern Munich (including a 4-0 win in Bavaria).
So a year later, Los Blancos head into the tournament against a Schalke side that is arguably weaker this time around, while the reigning champions themselves look a cut above the squad that dominated last year. But is that sufficient to escape the round of 16?
Manchester City, playing without Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany and English Premier League (EPL) leading scorer Sergio Aguero, managed to defy the odds, defeating Series A club AS Roma to advance to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. Luis Suarez helped Barcelona beat PSG with an assist to Lionel Messi -- scoring his 75th career Champions League, three ahead of Cristiano Ronald on the all-time scorers list -- and scoring his first goal with the Catalan club since his transfer from Liverpool.
Lionel Messi made history when he scored his 70th and 71st career UEFA Champions League goals helping Barcelona beat Ajax Amsterdam 2-0, helping the Spanish club advance into the Round of 16. Barcelona will be joined by Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, Ligue 1 champs Paris Saint-Germain and Primeira Liga club Porto in the next phase of the tournament.
