Schalke 04 vs. Manchester United – First half review: UEFA Champions League (Part 1)
Schalke 04 took on Manchester United at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen on 26th of April, 2011 in the first-leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final. The German outfit fielded a rather offensive line-up which
was not expected in the pre-match build up. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gonzalez-c15099.
The Spanish striker lined up alongside Eduardo Goncalves, who is also known as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Edu-c12016, in attack for Die Königsblauen. In midfield, Schalke took up a conservative position with two defensive midfielders in the shape of Kyriakos Papadopoulos
and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Atsuto-Uchida-c6908 joining him in defense. Manuel Neuer began the match as Schalke 04’s captain and their goalkeeper
on the night.
On the other hand, Manchester United’s starting eleven had two surprises to start off with. Luis http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Germany-c2904 for the Red Devils due to a groin
strain. With their top goal scorer and top assist maker out of the starting eleven, Sir Alex went with a tried and tested 4-4-1-1 formation.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Carrick-c25282 took up their midfield roles and
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Rooney-c36736 acted as a link-up man between Manchester United’s midfielder and attack. The former Everton man also supported Javier Hernandez in Manchester United’s front line.
The English giants also benefited from the presence of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Patrice-Evra-c29231 started as United’s
premier left-back whereas Edwin Van der Sar started in between the visiting team’s goal posts.
United kicked off the match, but it was Schalke 04 who tested Van der Sar’s reflexes in the very first minute of the encounter as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alexander-Baumjohann-c4817 pounced on Ryan Giggs’ weak clearance. The German midfielder unleashed a powerful
shot straight at Van der Sar but United’s goalkeeper made no mistake in gathering the ball.
In the 3rd minute, Manchester United had their first real goal scoring opportunity as Wayne Rooney carried the ball forward. The English striker skipped past Sarpei before testing the acrobatic Manuel Neuer with a curled
effort. The German international was up to the task as he flew in the air to palm away the Englishman’s effort.
In the 6th minute, Park Ji Sung found space inside the Schalke 04 penalty area but http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Manuel-Neuer-c23424 was once again the difference as he saved the Korean midfielder’s threatening drive. Javier Hernandez popped up to head
the rebound but the offside flag saved the home team’s blushes as the score line remained at nil all in Veltins-Arena.
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