Luka Modric: 'Close shave against Schalke 04 will make Real Madrid stronger'

Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric has claimed that his side's close shave against Schalke 04 in the Champions League will make the defending champions stronger in the long run.

The German side clinched a 4-3 win at the Bernabeu, but Carlo Ancelotti's charges reached the last eight of the competition nonetheless with a 5-4 victory on aggregate.

Modric is quoted by BBC Sport as saying: "Getting through to the next round is very important for us, sometimes you have to suffer and this will make us stronger.

"We have to get back to playing the way we were at the start of the season, we have a lot of quality and I think that we're going to see a much better Real Madrid in the next game."

Real slipped to second in the La Liga table last weekend.