In-form Valencia will have a great chance to make it to Champions League quarter-finals as they play host to struggling Schalke, although los Che will have to create an advantage before the return leg if they want to remain favourites to go through. The Germans have shown some improvement of late, but they still face an uphill task at Mestalla.

5 wins in 6 games

Rarely do we see a team doing really well after they have stayed without several key players, but that is exactly what Valencia have done after the departure of David Villa and David Silva last summer. Coach Unai Emery did a great job in compensating for the two world-class players and oddly enough, los Che are doing even better than last season. Valencia have just climbed to third place in La Liga, having won 5 out of last 6 games  and they should have no problems clinching another Chamions league berth. Los Che are also doing well in Europe as they easily qualified for the knockout stages and they now have a very good chance to make it to the next stage. The players are full of confidence and that makes Valencia favourites in this tie.

Juan Mata returns to the side after recovering from an ankle injury, but David Albelda and Jonas are unavailable.

Raul returns to Spain

Despite the heavy investment in the playing squad during the last two transfer windows and the arrival of players like Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Christoph Metzelder, Jurado and Raul, Schalke have been largely struggling this season, although their European showings by far exceeded all expectations. However, the team have major problems in Bundesliga, where they currently sit in 10th place, with the atmosphere around the squad very poor after the fans turned against coach Felix Magath. Schalke have shown some improvement lately, having drawn with Borussia Dortmund before beating Freiburg at home, but unless they find some consistency very soon, I don’t think the Germans will be able to turn this season around.

January signing Anthony Annan is ineligible, while Kiriakos Papadopoulos is out through injury. Ali Karimi, Sergio Escudero and Hans Sarpei are the latest additions to the squad.

Verdict

Valencia seem to be in remarkable form at the moment and that should give them the upper hand in this tie. Los Che have a lot more European experience than Schalke and with Germans largely struggling this season, I have no choice but to go with home win here.

Our prediction: Home win

Odds: 1.75 (3/4)

Bookmaker: Victor Chandler