Schalke announce Real Madrid friendly to mark Veltins-Arena's 25th anniversary
Schalke will play Spanish giants Real Madrid in a pre-season friendly to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Veltins-Arena.
The 15-time European champions will make the trip to Gelsenkirchen on 16 August for what will be Schalke's final warm-up match ahead of their DFB Cup first-round tie at Regionalliga side Hallescher FC.
"We're really looking forward to playing our final pre-season friendly against such a top-class opponent," said Frank Baumann, Schalke's board member for sport. "We're also convinced that Schalke fans can't wait to see such a blockbuster friendly at the Veltins-Arena.
"It's going to be a real festival of football."
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The two sides have faced off four times in the UEFA Champions League down the years. In 2013/14, Madrid registered a 9-2 aggregate victory in the last 16 en route to winning the title, while Los Blancos edged through 5-4 on aggregate at the same stage of the following edition.
No fewer than seven players have featured for both clubs. Legendary striker Raúl scored 40 goals in 98 games for Schalke near the end of his career, while Mesut Özil made his professional debut with the Royal Blues before moving to Werder Bremen and then Madrid.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Hamit Altintop are among the other names to turn out for both teams.
Schalke have already faced Gütersloh (L2-1), Erzgebirge Aue (W4-2), Metalist Kharkiv (W2-0) and Fagiano Okayama (W3-1 win) in preparation for the coming campaign. The Royal Blues are due to play Hessen Kessel (1 August) and Atalanta (8 July) before taking on Madrid.
After their cup opener on 24 August, the Royal Blues will end their three-year Bundesliga hiatus against Augsburg the following weekend.
