3rd qualifying round - match report
Schalke overcome Atletico 1-0
It's "Advantage Schalke" after the 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League third round qualifier. The first-half performance by the Royal Blues was the decisive factor.
Schalke head coach Fred Rutten opted for the same eleven that started last Saturday's cup-tie in Homburg. And the Royal Blues almost got off to a perfect start, but Rakitic was unable to convert the first big chance after just 50 seconds. That marked the beginning of a very impressive display in the opening 45.
"We played very well and had lots of chances", said Rutten, alluding not only to another great opportunity for Rakitic in the 20th minute, this time with a header. The lively Jefferson Farfan was a repeated thorn in the side of the visitors, assisted by some flowing link-up play by his team-mates. A superb free-kick goal by Christian Pander on the half-hour was therefore no more than the Royal Blues deserved for a strong first-half showing.
Atletico coach Javier Aguirre was impressed by another Schalke player: Jermaine Jones. "The number 13 surprised me. He was full of running. He was on the right, on the left, he was everywhere", said the Mexican before adding: "I wasn't pleased with the first half." In addition, the visitors resorted to some fairly aggressive tackling when required.
The pattern changed in the second half, however. It was now a more open game, and while Atletico were able to fashion one or two chances, they never really looked like finding an equaliser. A Schalke second looked just as unlikely, however, even though the visitors were reduced to ten men for the final quarter of an hour after Lopez was shown a second yellow. "We're still developing and aren't yet capable of playing the way we played in the first half for a full 90 minutes", said Rutten. "It's not something you can do overnight."
Commenting on Schalke's narrow lead ahead of the return match in Madrid, he said: "It isn't a super result, but because we didn't concede a goal it's a decent one. Obviously it's going to be very difficult in Spain, though." Just how difficult will also depend on the extent of the shoulder injury that forced Farfan off in the 70th minute.
As for Atletico, the general tenor was that it could have been worse. "We didn't get an away goal because Mathias Schober made a number of saves", said Aguirre. "But the signs are good for us in the return." Nevertheless, Schalke will have a 1-0 lead when the game kicks off at the Estadio Vicente Calderon.
Schalke: Schober - Westermann, Höwedes, Bordon, Pander - Jones, Ernst, Engelaar - Farfan (Halil Altintop 70'), Kuranyi, Rakitic (Asamoah 78')
Madrid: Franco - Perea, Ujfalusi, Heitinga, Lopez - Maxi Rodriguez, Raul Garcia, Assuncao, Simao (Pernia 85') - Forlan, Sinama-Pongolle (Luis Garcia 68')
Goals: 1-0 Pander (30')
Referee: Frojdfeldt (Sweden)
Attendance: 54,142 (sold out)
Red card (second yellow): Lopez (persistent foul play 75')
Yellow cards: Ernst, Farfan, Jones - Raul Garcia, Heitinga, Maxi Rodriguez, Pernia, Luis Garcia
