 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE NIGHTS

FC Schalke 04 vs Manchester United

by Dr. Michael Calleja

On the 26th of April 2011, Manchester United faced German club FC Schalke 04 in the first leg of the Champions League semi‑final – away in front of a passionate Gelsenkirchen crowd. Despite United being huge favourites to progress from the two-legged encounter, the Germans were by no means a pushover. During the previous round, Schalke had comprehensively beaten Italian giants ‘Inter Milan’ 7-3 on aggregate. United for their part, had managed to eliminate Chelsea over two pulsating encounters (2-1 at Old Trafford and 1-0 at Stamford Bridge).

Schalke’s line up included the mercurial ‘Raul’ – who had joined the German club after a stellar career at Real Madrid. The team, managed by a certain ‘Ralf Rangnick’ also possessed a very capable goalkeeper who would torment both Wayne Rooney & Javier Hernandez on the night. Manuel Neuer was clearly one of the best ‘up and coming’ goalkeepers and despite alleged interest from Sir Alex Ferguson (in particular), had already made it clear that his intentions were to remain in Germany (wherein he eventually joined powerhouse Bayern Munich).

On the night, Sir Alex Ferguson selected the following starting XI: Edwin Van Der Sar, Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, John O’Shea, Nani, Michael Carrick, Anderson, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez ‘Chicharito’. Ralf Rangnick’s selection included: Manuel Neuer, Atsuto Uchida, Christoph Metzelder, Joel Matip, Hans Sarpei, Alexander Baumjohann, Jose Manuel Jurado, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Jefferson Farfan, Raul and Edu.

Throughout the 90 minutes, Manchester United completely dominated the Germans and it was simply a matter of ‘if’ rather than ‘when’ they would score. Manuel Neuer kept the side from Gelsenkirchen in the game and a number of outstanding saves continuously thwarted the Red Devils.

Manchester United’s pace and penetration were the main difference on the night – with Sir Alex’s men particularly impressive when going forward. After 14 minutes, United went dangerously close when Javier Hernandez latched onto a great pass by Park Ji-Sung but could not beat Manuel Neuer. Ryan Giggs also went close when his header was saved by the

imposing German and Giggs was instrumental once again in nearly opening the score right before half-time with Neuer again the pivotal difference between United being comfortably in front and incessantly frustrated.

Schalke did have opportunities, although these were few and far between, with Jose Manuel Jurado spurning a priceless opportunity after some neat work by Jefferson Farfan. At long last, United finally managed to crack open Schalke’s defense. Wayne Rooney’s excellent work on the left found Ryan Giggs and the talismanic Welshman slid the ball through Neuer’s legs – becoming the (then) oldest player to score in the UEFA Champions League (37 years and 148 days old) – overtaking AC Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi who had also scored throughout that same campaign. United managed to keep up the momentum and merely two minutes later, some neat work by Hernandez found Rooney whose low shot past the hapless Neuer made it 2-0 as United eased to a comfortable away victory.

After the game, Ferguson was ecstatic yet cautiously optimistic – as always: ‘Well it was a perfect performance and we could have scored more goals and I hope we don’t regret that [going into the second leg]. The players believed in themselves, and they were fantastic.’’

The newspapers were also full of praise for Sir Alex’s men – belittling Schalke’s contribution to the game. ‘1 v 11’ shouted Bild ‘Wo war eigentlich der Rest von Schalke?– “where, exactly, were the rest of Schalke?” – highlighting Neuer’s immense contribution to keep the score line down to a respectable two goals conceded. Moreover, “Manuel Neuer made sure that Schalke just lost 2-0 and not 7-0. Anyone who saw this gulf in class will not believe in a miracle at Old Trafford in the return leg. United have more than one foot in the final at Wembley.”

A comprehensive 4-1 romp in the return fixture at Old Trafford ensured United would once again participate in another Champions League final, their third in four seasons. However, there was to be no celebration at Wembley where United were themselves outplayed 1-3 by a polished and slick Barcelona side. Nonetheless, it had been a highly positive campaign with some great performances along the way. The shrewdness and quality of that United team had been brilliantly summed up in that 90-minute performance in Gelsenkirchen.