Felix Magath: I'm satisfied with our display
20.07.2009
New boss Felix Magath's maiden game in charge at the VELTINS Arena, Saturday's T-Home Cup first semi-final, ended in defeat to VfB Stuttgart. The men from Swabia overcame the Royal Blues 1-0 courtesy of Sebastian Rudy's 34th minute strike.
"Looking back on it, I'm glad we've played such strong opponents," Magath commented afterwards, "you learn considerably more from that kind of game then you do from playing lower league opponents." The coach reckoned the main reason for Stuttgart's victory was VfB's retention of a strong nucleus of players from last season, helping them overcome the departure of star striker Mario Gomez. "VfB had more belief and cleverly let the ball do the work," the 55-year-old reasoned, "but I'm still satisfied with our display."
After a cagey opening phase, the first good chance came from an Ivan Rakitic set piece delivery. The Croat floated over a free-kick from the right towards the back post, where Marcelo Bordon headed across goal towards the lurking Jefferson Farfan. However, seasoned VfB keeper Jens Lehmann gathered safely (11th minute). VfB raced up the other end and Christian Träsch crossed from the right for Timo Gebhart, although the midfielder's half-hit shot dribbled tamely wide of Mathias Schober's goal.
"Lewis Holtby was industrious and energetic today," Magath commented approvingly. The summer arrival from Aachen showed his class in the next incident with a neat lob through the centre towards the charging Farfan, although the Peruvian failed to connect (19). Kevin Kuranyi then had the ball in the net with what looked a perfectly good finish, but the Schalke man was controversially hauled back for handball, and received a harsh yellow card for his trouble.
That was the last opening of a first period in which both teams attempted to move the ball forward at speed, only for the final pass to go astray on too many occasions.
It all finally clicked for the visitors four minutes after the restart, Gebhart breaking free down the right after a swift exchange of passes and swinging over a precise cross for the unmarked Rudy to nod home the opening goal from close range (34).
Schalke surged forward in search of a quick response and Heiko Westermann's cross to the back post was just as accurate as the delivery which led to the goal, but Träsch intervened at the last minute to block Kuranyi's effort (40). Rakitic ran onto a short pass from Jan Moravek three minutes later and volleyed goalwards, but his 20-yard drive fizzed over Lehmann's crossbar. VfB looked to strike on the break and Julian Schieber shot at goal, but Mathias Schober parried and Marcelo Bordon cleared the rebound for a corner (47).
"But we resisted well and created chances of our own. Holtby failed to put away the best of them," Magath observed. The striker's first touch let him down from Rafinha's diagonal pass and a golden opportunity went begging (51). The final few minutes belonged to Stuttgart, as Schober fisted away Thomas Hitzlsperger's 25-yard piledriver, and Martin Lanig blazed high and wide from the rebound.
The 30-minute-each-way match offered no clues to a potential first-choice line-up, Magath insisted. "The Bundesliga restart is still too far away. At the moment, we're in a phase where the players are acclimatising to the new working and playing methods. Our attacking game wasn't particularly smooth in places, as the players aren't yet accustomed to how their team-mates are going to react."
VfB Stuttgart go through to Sunday's final against Hamburg, 1-0 winners over Bayern Munich later in the afternoon, with the Royal Blues now meeting the men from Bavaria in the third-place play-off at 4.35 pm on Sunday.
Schalke: Schober - Rafinha, Höwedes, Bordon (Zambrano 52), Kobiashvili - Moravek (Altintop 46), Rakitic, Westermann, Holtby - Kuranyi, Farfan
Stuttgart: Lehmann - Träsch, Tasci, Boulahrouz (Niedermeier 18), Celozzi - Gehart, Lanig, Khedira, Rudy - Marica, Schieber (Riedle 53)
Goal: 0-1 Rudy (34)
Yellow card: Kuranyi
Referee: Winkmann (Kerken)
Attendance: 34,350
