3rd qualifying round, 2nd leg match report

Schalke crash out of Champions League

Schalke have failed in their bid to reach the group phase of European football's flagship competition. Atletico Madrid made good the 1-0 deficit from the first leg with a 4-0 win in the return to consign the Royal Blues to a place in the UEFA Cup.

Fred Rutten's starting line-up showed just one change to the team that gained a point at Werder Bremen on Saturday. Jermaine Jones returned to the side after recovering from his ankle injury, with Carlos Grossmüller dropping to the bench.

In the first 20 minutes the two teams cancelled each other out in midfield. There were no genuine opportunities, only half-chances for Kevin Kuranyi (6' and 14') and Atletico's Maxi Rodriguez (8' and 18').

So it came as something as a surprise when the home side took the lead after 19 minutes. Marcelo Bordon was initially able to clear a Diego Forlan shot off the line, but the damage was done seconds later, Sergio Aguero heading home Luis Perea's cross.

The goal seemed to unsettle the Royal Blues. Atletico stepped up the pressure and almost doubled their lead on 34 when Simao's lob came back off the post. Efforts by Simao (29') and Rodriguez (43'), in contrast, failed to trouble Mathias Schober in the Schalke goal. Slowly but surely Fred Rutten's men appeared to pick themselves up again. But apart from a 20-metre shot by Halil Altintop in the 36th minute they had nothing to show for their efforts.

After the interval the home side got off to the better start. And after Aguero and Raul Garcia had gone close they extended their advantage on 51 minutes, Diego Forlan capitalising on a ball from the outstanding Aguero to make it 2-0. Only then did the Royal Blues finally wake up.

They played with more conviction and had several chances to reduce the deficit to 2-1, which would have been enough to put them through. But neither Kuranyi (54') nor Heiko Westermann, who threatened on three separate occasions (62' to 71'), could find the net. Altintop's 80th minute miss finally ushered in a torrid closing phase for Schalke in which they were caught cold on the break.

Substitute Luis Garcia collected Aguero's pass to make it 3-0 on 82, and then Maxi Rodriguez converted a penalty for Atletico's fourth after Christian Pander had brought down Simao in the box and was shown the red card for denying the Portugal international an obvious goalscoring opportunity. The action ended with Luis Garcia striking the post in stoppage time.

Atletico: Franco - Perea, Heitinga, Ujfalusi, Pernia - Maniche (Assuncao 77') - Rodriguez, Raul Garcia, Simao - Aguero (Sinama-Pongolle 86'), Forlan (Luis Garcia 71')
Schalke: Schober - Westermann, Höwedes, Bordon, Pander - Jones (Asamoah 78'), Ernst, Kobiashvili (Rafinha 65') - Altintop, Kuranyi, Rakitic (Krstajic 90')
Goals: 1-0 Aguero (19'), 2-0 Forlan (51'), 3-0 Luis Garcia (82'), 4-0 Rodriguez (pen. 87')
Referee: Frank de Bleeckere (Belgium)
Attendance: 55,000
Red card: Pander, last-man foul (85')
Yellow cards: Pernia, Rodriguez - Ernst, Jones, Altintop, Rafinha