Champions League fixtures preview: Real Madrid vs Galatasaray

Arguably the running Spanish champions received an easy draw for the quarterfinal stage, though the Turkish giants may surprise Real. The Turks produced impressing performance so far finishing second behind Manchester United in Group H and defeating Schalke 4-3 on aggregate in the Round of 16.

Jose Mourinho’s side come to the tie with a 37-match unbeaten run at the Santiago Bernabeu in all tournaments, starting from January 2012 with 30 wins and seven draws. La Liga side have openly declared their aim of clinching the major European trophy this season as the race in the domestic championship is already over for the team and Madrid definitely has the advantage of focusing on one competition comparing to Barca.

Los Blancos did not impress at the weekend, playing in a 1-1 draw against Real Zaragoza. The match showed once more that the team rely too much on Cristiano Ronaldo who leveled the score in the game, while Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain were far from being effective in front of the target. The French striker last netted the ball in Europe in the match against Manchester City in November 2012, while Higuain has not yet registered a single goal.

Galatasaray apart from world superstars Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba who are the main threat for Jose Mourinho’s men, have prolific Burak Yilmaz who shares the top spot with Ronaldo and Messi in the goalscorers chart with eight strikes. Drogba and Sneijder can take the chance and remind the European football world that class and experience are the most important factors at this stage of the competition.

Real will attempt not to concede an away goal and travel to Istanbul next Tuesday with as little pressure as possible. The Spaniards are also aware of wild and hostile Galatasaray’s fans who will make a very special welcome in away fixture.