Toni Kroos: 'Schalke 04 will be tough'

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has warned his teammates that overcoming Schalke 04 in the last-16 stage of the Champions League will not be an easy task.

Los Blancos comfortably dispatched the German outfit 9-2 on aggregate in last year's competition, but Kroos believes that it will be a much tougher assignment this time around.

"Schalke are strong, we need two good performances," Kroos told UEFA.com. "They're experiencing success in the Bundesliga and with their new coach they are very solid defensively.

"We have players so it will be a tough challenge but our goal is to progress to the next round."

Schalke, who welcome the Spanish side for the first leg on Wednesday, currently sit fourth in the Bundesliga.