| 28.08.2008 |
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| Oh dear… The debate on whether German soccer is good enough to challenge for the major European honors will no doubt start again in earnest today as Schalke 04 arrive back in Germany after being humiliated 4-0 in Madrid. Schalke, the German team which got the furthest in the competition last season by reaching the quarter-finals, were taken apart by Atletico in the Estadio Calderon on Wednesday night, bringing new coach Fred Rutten's Champions League adventure to a very premature close. Schalke's defeat and elimination will cost the club around 15 million euros ($22 million) in extra finance The other teams from the Bundesliga – Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen – face a potentially difficult group stage despite qualifying directly thanks to their superior league positions last season. Both teams, neither of which have set the competition alight in recent years, are in Pot Two for the draw which means that they will be drawn with one of the top seeds in the group stage. But looking at the clubs which make up the whole draw, none of them look like they will be a pushover for Bremen or Bayern, even the East European minnows. Schalke, of course, will not have these potentially difficult trips to the likes of Anorthosis Famagusta or Bate Borisov to contend with. They will have to be satisfied with revelling in the delusion that they can now fully focus on winning the Bundesliga without having to think "where the hell does CFR Cluj come from?" (Romania, if you’re wondering…and they were last season's league and cup double winners – so let's have some respect). No, Schalke gave up that right to consider themselves part of Europe's "elite" (which these days is a dubious title to hang on a competition which now features the third-placed teams from a myriad of leagues)by capitulating when the game in Madrid was there to be won. Atletico powered their way past the Royal Blues to win the tie a 4-1 aggregate. They lost 1-0 two weeks ago in Gelsenkirchen. Atletico have not reached the Champions League since 1997 and the capacity crowd celebrated wildly – and rightly so. It was a wonderful performance which left Schalke chasing shadows. "This was a really important night for us," said Argentine midfielder Maxi Rodriguez. "The fans were wonderful, and they deserve this after all they have suffered in the past few years." Teenage idol Sergio Aguero pushed Atletico ahead in the 19th minute, deflecting in a cross-shot from Luis Perea after Schalke's Marcelo Bordon had cleared a Diego Forlan shot off the line. Seven minutes into the second half Forlan made it 2-0 for Atletico with a low left-foot drive. In the 63rd minute Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi failed to convert a centre from Heiko Westermann. From then on Schalke visibly lost confidence in their ability to save the tie. Seven minutes from time former Liverpool star and current Atletico supersub Luis Garcia made it 3-0, latching onto a pass from Aguero. Three minutes later - with the fans already celebrating - Christian Pander pulled down Simao Sabrosa for a penalty - and was sent off with a second yellow card. Maxi Rodriguez calmly put away the spot-kick - signaling it was time for the fiesta in Madrid to begin. It also signaled the beginning of yet another autopsy on the already desecrated corpse of Germany’s European hopes. |
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