Ancelotti confirmed that this year's top scorer in the competition, Cristiano Ronaldo, will start Tuesday night's second leg despite the tie being over as a contest and it coming just five days before El Clasico.
Ronaldo's insatiable appetite for personal records has no doubt played a part in the decision to start him against the German's still recovering defence.
Ronaldo has 62 Champions League goals in 98 games – just nine short of Raul Gonzalez's record haul of 71.
Lionel Messi is the favourite to go past Raul first having taken his tally to 67 in 83 games with the goal he scored against Manchester City last week. Ronaldo, understandably does not want to miss out on any opportunities likely to come his way against Schalke.
The Portuguese currently leads Messi in this season's competition with 11 goals ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic with 10 and Messi with 8.
He will play upfront alongside youngsters Alvaro Morata and Jese as Gareth Bale is rested and Karim Benzema tries to recover from the knock he picked up at the weekend against Malaga before Sunday's home game against Barcelona.
'We will play with Morata, Jese and Ronaldo,' said Ancelotti who, when asked about Benzema added:
'He cannot play on Tuesday but we are confident he will be fine for the weekend. He is a very important player for us, and not just because he scores goals.'
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