Well we knew it anyway, but they are now formally set to be our opposition in the semis on the 26th of April and the 4th of May. So the question now is excatly how much threat they really pose to our hopes of a third champions league final in 4 years (anyone done that before?) and i don't think it is fair how many people habe already written them off. While it is true that they have probably had the easiest run of the 4 semi-finalists and their league campaign has been dire, they have looked different in Europe and i don't think you should disregard a team that can humilliate Inter at the san siro the way they did. I think Schalke are better than people give them credit for. If we play well we should beat them, but we can not afford to woble or be unconvincing the way we were against marsaille. What do you guys make of them?
Both Milan and Juve made three finals in a row in the 90's, but only won one each. Schalke are decent, but were flattered by a pretty shocking defensive display by Inter. In the 5-2, Schlake had 15 chances and scored 5 goals. Last night they had 6 chances and score 2 goals. In both of our games against Chelsea they had 15 chances and scored a grand total of one goal across both games. They do have good wide players, and players like Raul and Edu who may be old but still class, and will punish any mistakes in crucial areas. Inter were too narrow, particularly in the first leg, and made too many errors at the back. As long as we don't make any big defensive mistakes, and play our usual two wide players on each side, we should be fine. Park may be crucial again in providing defensive support on both flanks.
The greater the difference between their league form and European form is, the more of a challenge I see us facing. They've got a sniff of Liverpool '05 about them and they could be saving players and putting all their eggs in one basket. Raul looks like he has a new lease of life there too and if anyone is experienced enough to test Rio and Vidic, it will be him. A tough tie awaits.
