FC Schalke 04 - Page 14 - TalkSoccer

**Oliver_Kahn** · 30-03-2007, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Krstajic to give his all for Schalke

As they chase a first Bundesliga title, FC Schalke 04 and defender Mladen Krstajić face a big test of their credentials with Saturday's visit to FC Bayern München - particularly as Krstajić is playing with a broken rib.

Bayern hoodoo
Schalke lead Werder Bremen by three points with eight games to play, while Bayern are a further six points adrift in fourth and have the distraction of a UEFA Champions League quarter-final against AC Milan. But while Schalke - the last of whose seven national championships came in 1958, five seasons before the Bundesliga began - have the best away record in the division, they have failed to beat Bayern in the clubs' last five meetings.

Brave Krstajić
So it is all hands to the pump for Schalke and the 33-year-old Krstajić, who will continue to grit his teeth by wearing a special rib protector. He and defensive partner Marcelo Bordon have conceded just 25 Bundesliga goals this term, with Krstajić offering vital know-how having been part of the last title success outside of Munich, when Werder Bremen claimed the crown in 2003/04, not to mention three championships with Belgrade giants FK Partizan. "A win at Bayern would be a big step, but the match won't decide anything as Munich are fourth," the Serbian international said, before playing down his injury. "I don't make a fuss about it. For a victory I would have a few more ribs broken, no problem. It is important to give everything."

Impressive run
Before the last set of fixtures, on 17/18 March, Schalke had not won in four games but their 1-0 home triumph against third-placed VfB Stuttgart got them back on track, keeping Bremen at bay. Moreover, the Blues are undefeated in eight away matches. However, their best such streak ended in 1977 with a 7-1 thrashing at Bayern, and Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld hopes for a similarly unhappy day for the visitors. "My team are in great shape and totally determined to take all three points against Schalke," he said.

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**Trim** · 30-03-2007, 06:42 PM

Verbal sparring is part and parcel of the build-up to a major football match, and the weekend meeting between champions Bayern and Bundesliga leaders Schalke 04 has proved no exception. "Bayern's era of dominance is over," Schalke hitman Kevin Kuranyi trumpeted three days before the match. "My players are desperate to prove who's the best team in the Bundesliga," Munich boss Ottmar Hitzfeld promptly fired back. The side in fourth host the front-runners at the Allianz Arena this Saturday afternoon.

The media broadsides are a sure sign of pressure on both clubs. Schalke could take a giant stride towards a first German championship in 49 years by beating the title holders, but defeat could see the Royal Blues knocked off top spot by Werder Bremen.

Focused on third

"For us, there are three crucial points at stake," Hitzfeld analysed. The Bavarians' declared aim is a Champions League qualifying finish, but flickering hopes of retaining the title would be rekindled in the event of victory, although the subject is currently taboo in Munich. "It's all about third place - honestly," Uli Hoeneß insisted.

The champions may have the psychological edge ahead of what Phillipp Lahm described as a "pivotal" game. "We know best how to cope with the pressure," the Germany international reckoned. By contrast, Schalke had wobbled of late, Hitzfeld reasoned: "Leading the league generates extraordinary pressures, and we've seen that in Schalke's recent matches."

Home advantage

Nevertheless, no-one in Munich is playing down the threat posed by Saturday's visitors. The Royal Blues threatened to blow the Reds away in the first half-hour when the sides drew 2-2 in Gelsenkirchen last autumn, Mark van Bommel recalled, but the Bavarians are aiming to turn the tables this time. "We'll get stuck in from the start," Bastian Schweinsteiger promised. Added Hitzfeld: "Our task is to prise open Schalke's packed defence as early as possible."

"That means we have to be even more determined and even more focused," the coach continued. "You don't get many chances against Schalke, so I'm expecting a war of attrition. But we're capable of beating any team on the planet at home."

Dress rehearsal for Milan

Consciously or not, Bayern will be looking for a confidence-boosting win ahead of the Champions League quarter-final first leg away to AC Milan just three days after the Bundesliga clash. All thoughts of the European encounter are currently banned in Munich. "We're concentrating exclusively on Schalke. We're not interested in anything else at the moment," Hitzfeld confirmed.

The General picks from a full squad on Saturday. Oliver Kahn and Mark van Bommel will play despite bans applying to the Milan trip. For Schalke, playmaker Lincoln is still suspended for a red card offence, while Gustavo Varela (knee surgery) is not yet fit. On the other hand, Danish striker Peter Lovenkrands has shaken off an ankle ligament problem and could return from a five-week lay-off.

Cool heads

Royal Blues boss Mirko Slomka exuded confidence ahead of the game. "I've noticed a few gaps in the Bayern midfield. We'll come away with something," he declared. "We'll see who has the biggest gaps on Saturday," Hitzfeld fired back. Bayern are even taking the torrent of statements from Gelsenkirchen as a compliment. "If they're talking about us, it means they're scared of us," Van Bommel smiled.

Probable line-ups:

Bayern Munich: Kahn - Sagnol, Lucio, Van Buyten, Lahm - Salihamidzic, Hargreaves, Van Bommel, Schweinsteiger - Makaay, Podolski

Schalke 04: Neuer - Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Pander - Ernst - Bajramovic, Kobiaschwili - Halil Altintop, Kuranyi, Lövenkrands

Referee: Herbert Fandel (Kyllburg)

Bayern's record in the fixture: P36 W26 D5 L5 F97 A32

**Trim** · 30-03-2007, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Bayern Munich: Kahn - Sagnol, Lucio, Van Buyten, Lahm - Salihamidzic, Hargreaves, Van Bommel, Schweinsteiger - Makaay, Podolski

Our best 11 possible..
Let's shit on Schalke.

**Trim** · 31-03-2007, 03:28 PM

FT' Bayern Munich 2 - 0 Schalke (3' Makaay, 78' Salihamidzic)

**Trim** · 31-03-2007, 03:29 PM

**Trim** · 31-03-2007, 03:30 PM

A milestone Roy Makaay strike and a late second from Hasan Salihamidzic handed the Reds a morale-boosting win ahead of Tuesday's trip to Milan.

The red majority in the 69,000 full house at the Allianz Arena erupted after just three minutes to hail Makaay's 100th goal for the Bavarians, and the Dutch marksman twice tested Schalke shot-stopper Manuel Neuer in the best moments of an otherwise decidedly average first period.

Lively second half

The teams finally upped the tempo on the hour mark with half-chances aplenty at both ends, but the decisive strike arrived with twelve minutes remaining when Juventus-bound Hasan Salihamidzic smote home from close range to seal his side's fourth home victory of the season against the side coming to Munich as league leaders.

The result, combined with a narrow home win for Stuttgart and an away draw for Bremen, means Bayern remain in fourth with 47 points from 27 matches, but now lie just two points off third and a tantalising six off the leaders with seven games to play.

Hargreaves ruled out

Bayern showed one change to the team beaten in Frankfurt two weeks ago, Andreas Ottl deputising for Owen Hargreaves after the England man was forced to withdraw with a thigh strain collected on national duty during the week.

Schalke welcomed back Danish hitman Peter Lövenkrands from a five-week lay-off, but there was no place in the starting line-up for future Munich man Hamit Altintop, his twin brother Halil operating wide in a five-man midfield instead.

Roy nets opener

The stragglers were still taking their seats when Makaay brought up his ton in all competitions for Bayern, the 31-year-old clinically firing past Neuer after Mark van Bommel's first-time lay-off from Bastian Schweinsteiger's perceptive through ball.

Christian Pander curled Schalke's first chance over the bar, but Bayern had an often scrappy affair firmly within their grasp, and Neuer was forced into a good reaction save to deny Makaay's shot on the turn midway through the half.

The unfortunate Lovenkrands hobbled off on 34 minutes with what looked suspiciously like an instant repeat of his earlier ankle ligament damage, before Makaay again tested the highly-rated Neuer with a daisy-cutter from a tight angle.

Makaay v Neuer

The Netherlands goal-getter so nearly repeated his quickfire antics at the start of the second half, but Neuer raced from his goal to block with the Munich man clean through.

Oliver Kahn made a routine take from Zlatan Bajramovic' long-range effort tn minutes later, but the Reds swiftly turned the tables and Neuer made saves in quick succession from Lukas Podolski's boot and head.

The match livened up considerably on the hour with frenetic action in front of both goals, although in truth Kahn was fortunate to escape with a booking from FIFA referee Herbert Fandel after seeming to push sub Soren Larson off the ball following a 67th minute corner.

Brazzo seals it

Claudio Pizarro replaced the early goalscorer with twenty minutes remaining, but the honour of striking the second goal fell to Salihamidzic on 78 minutes after excellent work by Ottl and Lucio on the right edge of the area.

The match meandered to a conclusion after that as the champions closed in on their stated goal of third place, but also scented a glimmer of hope in the title race.

Live match report for fcbayern.de by Chris Hamley


Bayern Munich - Schalke 04 2-0 (H-T: 1-0)
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="HEIGHT: 15px"> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=f00000012px><NOBR>Bayern Munich:</NOBR></TD><TD class=abstand_15> </TD><TD class=f00000012px>Kahn - Sagnol, Lucio (Demichelis 85), Van Buyten, Lahm - Salihamidzic, Ottl, Van Bommel, Schweinsteiger (Lell 87) - Makaay (Pizarro 71), Podolski</TD></TR><TR><TD style="HEIGHT: 15px"> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=f00000012px><NOBR>Substitutes: </NOBR></TD><TD class=abstand_15> </TD><TD class=f00000012px>Rensing, Scholl, Demichelis, Görlitz, Karimi</TD></TR><TR><TD style="HEIGHT: 15px"> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=f00000012px><NOBR>Schalke 04:</NOBR></TD><TD class=abstand_15> </TD><TD class=f00000012px>Neuer - Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Pander - Ernst - Bajramovic (Özil 65), Kobiaschwili - Halil Altintop (Asamoah 74), Kuranyi, Lövenkrands (Larsen 35)</TD></TR><TR><TD style="HEIGHT: 15px"> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=f00000012px><NOBR>Referee: </NOBR></TD><TD class=abstand_15> </TD><TD class=f00000012px>Mr Fandel (Kyllburg)</TD></TR><TR><TD style="HEIGHT: 15px"> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=f00000012px><NOBR>Spectators: </NOBR></TD><TD class=abstand_15> </TD><TD class=f00000012px>69,000 (capacity)</TD></TR><TR><TD style="HEIGHT: 15px"> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=f00000012px><NOBR>Goals: </NOBR></TD><TD class=abstand_15> </TD><TD class=f00000012px>1-0 Makaay (3), 2-0 Salihamidzic (78 )</TD></TR><TR><TD style="HEIGHT: 15px"> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=f00000012px><NOBR>Yellow Cards: </NOBR></TD><TD class=abstand_15> </TD><TD class=f00000012px>Sagnol, Kahn / Krstajic, Ernst, Rafinha</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

**Trim** · 31-03-2007, 04:39 PM

Player ratings

Kahn - 8 -> A good performance from King Kahn. Made some big saves. Took a clean sheet.

Sagnol - 7 -> Decent performance.

Lucio - 8 -> Lucio was superb today. In defence and in offensive actions. He made a great pass/assist to Salihamidzic for the 2-0 goal.

Demichelis - n/a

Van Buyten - 7 -> Decent performance.

Lahm - 7 -> Decent performance.

Salihamidzic - 8 -> Brazzo as always, very good performance. Worked very well on the right wing and scored a good goal.

Ottl - 6,5 -> Ottl was not noticed a lot, but however he didn't do bad.

Van Bommel - 8 -> A very good performance from Mark. Both offensively and defensively. He didn't let anyone get past him. He assisted with a great pass to Makaay for the 1-0 goal. Controled the midfield and the whole team as a real boss. MOTM.

Schweinsteiger - 8 -> Good performance by Schweini. One of his best matches this season. He worked very well from the left wing and passed quite often.

Lell - n/a

Makaay - 8 -> One of Roy's best matches this season. Very active all the time. Scored a good goal, his 100th official goal for FCB in all competitions. He had a few other good chances, but unfortunately the ball didn't go in.

Pizarro - 6 -> Was watching the match with some mates myself and everyone was laughing at him. Pizarro was crap as usual. Still keeps his head down, doesn't know how to move.

Podolski - 7 -> Podolski didn't do bad, but he usually puts better performances. Didn't have much chances as usual. He played more like an offensive allrounder.

**Trim** · 31-03-2007, 06:04 PM

Following Saturday's 2-0 victory at home to Bundesliga leaders Schalke 04, Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld reserved most of his praise for a solid defensive display and the fact his side kept a clean sheet. The boss felt his men had played well as a team, but singled out Lucio and Daniel van Buyten for special acclaim, although he was not entirely bowled over by the overall performance: "There were highs and lows."

Reaction to Bayern v Schalke

Ottmar Hitzfeld: "We deserved the win. We had more chances, and we could even have won by more. We were very solid in defence and only let them have a handful of chances. I'm pleased we've kept a clean sheet. The team worked hard for that, especially Lucio and Van Buyten. We kept it tight in midfield too. We started well but we allowed Schalke back into it, we dropped unnecessarily deep. It improved again in the second half, we started winning our tackles, but we missed a chance or two. I don't want to make too much of the result, there were highs and lows, but the three points will definitely boost our confidence."

Mark van Bommel: "We played well in the first 25 minutes, but then we made the mistake of letting Schalke settle. We have only ourselves to blame for that. We were better again in the second half, although we failed to wrap it up with an earlier second goal."

Philipp Lahm: "We were very well organised against Schalke, like we were against Bremen. They hardly had a chance throughout the game. Fortunately we scored a second and killed them off."

Mirko Slomka (Schalke coach): "Obviously we can't be satisfied. We didn't show up for the first half. We matched Bayern in the second half, we got at them, and we created a chance or two. Our aim was to keep it tight and play on the break, but letting in the early goal put paid to that. It was the right result, we didn't make enough chances."

Fabian Ernst (Schalke): "We didn't have the courage and the resolve at the start. It improved after 30 minutes, but we weren't determined enough. It wasn't too bad in the second half, but Bayern had the lead and were smart with it."

Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke): "We were asleep for the first 25 minutes. There's no point being that cautious. We stood and watched Bayern play football, and that's why they won. It was a bit better in the second half, but we still didn't invest enough in the game."

**Oliver_Kahn** · 31-03-2007, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Red

I'm very happy with this result, from what I've read so far, Bayern deserved the win and played well.

Good to see Makaay scoring

Diabolico · 01-04-2007, 12:52 AM

I hadn't watched Bundesliga for a while, so I figured I'd watch today's match and get a look at Bayern's form going into the CL. I'm glad I did-- great game! Are Bundesliga matches usually so aggressive and hard-fought? Like I said, haven't watched for a while, but now I'm thinking I should watch this league more often...

Anyway, a deserved win by Bayern, and if it weren't for Neuer (amazing keeper!) I'd say Bayern could easily have scored at least twice more.

How would you Bayern fans rate your club's overall performance, by the way? Was this a normal game, or above/below average? As you can surely guess, I'm thinking of the upcoming CL match and trying to estimate Milan's chances.

**Oliver_Kahn** · 01-04-2007, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diabolico

I hadn't watched Bundesliga for a while, so I figured I'd watch today's match and get a look at Bayern's form going into the CL. I'm glad I did-- great game! Are Bundesliga matches usually so aggressive and hard-fought? Like I said, haven't watched for a while, but now I'm thinking I should watch this league more often...

Anyway, a deserved win by Bayern, and if it weren't for Neuer (amazing keeper!) I'd say Bayern could easily have scored at least twice more.

How would you Bayern fans rate your club's overall performance, by the way? Was this a normal game, or above/below average? As you can surely guess, I'm thinking of the upcoming CL match and trying to estimate Milan's chances.

Only T-Red can answer those questions, as I can only watch Bayern's CL games

**Trim** · 02-04-2007, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diabolico

I hadn't watched Bundesliga for a while, so I figured I'd watch today's match and get a look at Bayern's form going into the CL. I'm glad I did-- great game! Are Bundesliga matches usually so aggressive and hard-fought? Like I said, haven't watched for a while, but now I'm thinking I should watch this league more often...

Anyway, a deserved win by Bayern, and if it weren't for Neuer (amazing keeper!) I'd say Bayern could easily have scored at least twice more.

How would you Bayern fans rate your club's overall performance, by the way? Was this a normal game, or above/below average? As you can surely guess, I'm thinking of the upcoming CL match and trying to estimate Milan's chances.

On your first question: Yes, Bundesliga is always filled with rivalry. Of course, agressivity is more in derby matches like the one you saw, but there are matches with bottom league teams that are filled with rivalry. Bundesliga was interesant since the beggining, the 'tifosi' support their teams everytime, with stadiums at full capacity.

On your second question: It was a very good, very satisfying performance, our second best Bundesliga performance of the season I shall say. We haven't played like this usually this season. So, its above average I might admit. All our guys put their full efforts to beat the opponent and they did. This doesn't happen usually.

But, on the other side, we have had better games in Champions League. You know we beat Inter away, then we had a good result in Madrid and a fantastic performance at Allianz.

To sum it up for you, Bayern puts their best efforts against big teams in respective competitions. We never had problems beating them. Small teams, underdogs, defensive minded teams are what caused us problems, always.

If van Bommel and Kahn would appear in San Siro, I'd have told you expect a better performance than what you saw against Schalke. With this two big misses, I'll tell you expect more or less the same performance as you saw vs Schalke.