Schalke fought bravely to survive the ‘hell’ in Istanbul and they are now in the driving seat following the 1-1 draw in the first leg.

Galatasaray are still not giving up though, and the Turkish giants are likely to have a huge support from the stands thanks to their expatriates living in Germany.

This season hasn’t had such a great start for Schalke as the team were struggling to climb to European places in Bundesliga, although their Champions League campaign was progressing pretty well.

The Miners experienced plenty of problems after the winter break, but it appears the 1-1 draw in Istanbul gave the team a much needed confidence boost and helped them get their season back on track.

Schalke have since won all three league games, beating arch rivals Borussia Dortmund at the weekend, and they are now 1.75 (3/4) with 888sport to make it four in a row.

The win came at a cost seeing that star striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar picked up a knee ligament injury that will see him miss next few weeks of action.

Jermaine Jones misses out through suspension, while Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Lars Unnerstall and Ibrahim Afellay remain in the infirmary.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Hildebrand – Uchida, Howedes, Matip, Kolasinac – Hoger, Neustadter – Farfan, Draxler, Bastos – Pukki.

Galatasaray were pretty fortunate to be pitted against Schalke, arguably the weakest of all sides that had won their Champions League group, and they really believed they would make it to the quarter-finals.

It was for that reason that club chiefs signed Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder in the January transfer window, but the team could, nonetheless, only muster a 1-1 draw in the first leg.

They have since picked up just 4 points from next 3 league games, losing at home to Genclerbirligi at the weekend, so they clearly go into this game low on spirits.

However, with Schalke missing their top scorer and Turkish fans making sure there is no home field advantage, there may be some value in backing Galata to qualify, at odds of 3.10 (21/10) offered at BetVictor.

After missing a penalty at the weekend, Didier Drogba is 3.25 (9/4) at 888sport to make amends and score at Veltins Arena.

Boss Fatih Terim has no fresh injury worries, although Didier Drogba and Felipe Melo are set to return to the starting line-up.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Muslera – Eboue, Kaya, Gokhan Zan, Riera – Altintop, Selcuk Inan, Melo, Sneijder – Drogba, Burak.

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