COMMENT: There are only two German teams capable of
beating Europe's top sides, and Schalke 04 are definitely not
one of them It might not have finished 6-1 again, but the outcome was the same.
Real Madrid strolled to the verge of the quarter-finals of the
Champions League with a 2-0 win over Schalke which was every
bit as convincing as the thrashing when they were last in
Gelsenkirchen 12 months ago.
Whereas in 2014 they went for the jugular, this year the Blancos
barely got out of second gear. They upped their pace only when
they needed to and the home side just sat and watched.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s first-half goal gave Madrid the luxury of a lead
and, moments after Schalke finally behaved like a side hoping to
garner a positive result from the game, Marcelo went up the other
end and finished the contest.
For Madrid it was the classic away-day Champions League
performance, but for the home side it was only marginally more
useful than another 6-1 defeat.
When Kevin-Prince Boateng’s wonderful raking pass allowed Atsuto
Uchida to tee up Felix Platte for a stinging effort which came back
off Iker Casillas’ bar in the dying stages, it was the first time
Schalke had stretched their superior visitors all night. Seconds later
they were out of it.
Both teams got exactly what they deserved out of the fixture.
Madrid looked every inch the European masters, playing the ball
around with ease, probing and pressing and awaiting their chances
before taking them with authority. Their 10th successive Champions
League win was always a matter of when, rather than if.
Meanwhile, Roberto Di Matteo’s side had the look of men who had
already accepted their fate. They went through the motions when on
the ball rather than showing any kind of belief or desire.
Only two German teams have any kind of hope against the
Champions League’s better sides and the Italian knows it.
Schalke are neither of those. Instead it is the last two clubs to send
Madrid hurtling out of the competition who are the only Germans
with a chance of repeating the feat. Bayern Munich, who beat
Madrid on penalties in the 2012 semi-finals, should go close again.
Borussia Dortmund, the Blancos’ conquerors in the last four 12
months later, still have the smarts to trouble Europe’s leading lights
despite their domestic issues.
The Bundesliga’s remaining clubs have very little to offer, and
Schalke gave a performance befitting of exactly that. They were
happy with damage limitation from the off after last season’s 9-2
aggregate defeat.
For the second season running, Schalke highlighted that the
Champions League runs under a flawed format. Too many nothing
sides are happy enough to reach the last 16 before stepping aside,
going through the motions against bigger, stronger, fitter, better,
more confident teams, content with having escaped the group stage
and earned a big payday.
Madrid charge on, with Carlo Ancelotti more than happy with the
night’s work.
“An effective but not brilliant game? Yes it was, because the game
did not allow us anything more, with Schalke sitting back and
searching for the counter-attacks,” he told Canal+ after the match.
“We did not need a very high rate, and after we went 1-0 up we
controlled the game in a bit to score the second, which we then
did.”
In other words, they did nothing more than they had to. It was
textbook, really. They were the haves against Germany’s have-nots
in Gelsenkirchen, and we don’t have to wait three weeks to be
convinced that it is the Spaniards who will feature in the quarter-
final draw. They’ll probably play in second gear again at the
Bernabeu, and they’ll almost certainly win again.
When Madrid do finally click into top gear, it will take a far better
side than Schalke to stop them.
Comments
Post a Comment