Di Matteo (Schalke Manager): Cristiano Ronaldo? "We all have the same opinion of him. He's won the Ballon d'Or several times and he's a player who can decide a match on his own. We'll try to stop him as a team. "Of course he's only human and he can't always be brilliant, but he's a great footballer with great qualities. He can decide a match alone."
Raphaël Varane: "Winning two Champions Leagues in a row is a huge source of motivation. It would be something historic and it's an attractive challenge. We have a team that's capable of achieving these types of things and we're going to try to do it."
Raphaël Varane:"I've never had a big idol, but it's true that when I was young Zidane made us all dream. If I had to name one player, it would be him."
Kroos: Carlo Ancelotti? He trusted in me from the start in a position I hadn't played in much before. I enjoy playing there. We have a great relationship. We communicate a lot before each game, we talk about how I should approach the match according to the opposition we are up against. Ancelotti is one of the reasons I joined the team. He told me that Real Madrid would be even stronger with me.
Kroos: "We want a good result in order to kill things off in the Bernabéu.It is a great feeling to return to Germany and doing so with the Real Madrid jersey is extra special. I remember playing here with Bayern. I managed to get good results and I'm hoping to repeat that. You get a special feeling playing here, it's fantastic".
Benzema was running a high fever and had to abandon the training session last night, complaining of a bout of the flu. - Jese or Chicharito might start in his place tonight.