Schalke salvage season with European success
Reuters - Thursday 10 March 2011, 09:15
BERLIN - A breeze of optimism swept
through Gelsenkirchen on Thursday after Schalke 04 rescued their
otherwise mediocre season with a surprise spot in the Champions
League quarter-finals following a 3-1 win over Valencia.
Leading up to their qualification for the last eight for
only the second time, Schalke had to endure months of sharp
criticism following a lacklustre Bundesliga season.
Only days ago the future looked bleak with the team
struggling just five points off the relegation play-off spot in
the Bundesliga and hopes of international football quickly
fading as fans directed their anger against coach Felix Magath.
Hours before the game against Valencia media reported
Schalke had decided to terminate Magath's contract at the end of
the season, two years early with the coach saying he knew
nothing about it.
Their 4-2 aggregate win over Valencia after Wednesday's
victory in front of a surprisingly supportive home crowd and a
1-0 win over holders Bayern Munich last week that sent them
through to the German Cup final seem to have turned the tide.
"The results in the Bundesliga were not so good but then we
made the German Cup final and now the last eight in the
Champions League so things are looking up and such moments make
you feel very good," Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said.
"We are now among the top eight teams in Europe and we want
to go into the next round fighting as well as bring this
confidence into the Bundesliga," said Neuer, whose stellar form
this season has been one of the team's few highlights.
The Champions League last eight spot means the debt-ridden
club is also getting an unexpected financial injection, a fact
not lost with management, who said they would comment on the
Magath issue in the coming days.
Schalke's outstanding European run - having topped their
group and won every home game this season - has even taken some
players by surprise, including 33-year-old Raul, who joined
after 16 trophy-rich years at Real Madrid.
The three-time Champions League winner and the competition's
record goal-scorer has not played in a quarter-final for years
with Real exiting at the Round of 16 every time since the 2005/6
season.
"Raul told me after the game 'think about it, we had to
change to Schalke to finally play another Champions League
quarter-final'," said defender Christoph Metzelder, who had
played at the Spanish club with Raul before they both joined
Schalke last year.