The Champions League has thrown up just about every kind of challenge for Sir Alex Ferguson over the last 18 years but never in a semi-final has he come up against a team quite like the dreadful Schalke, who played last night with about as much finesse as a bratwurst in a bun.
Make no mistake, Manchester United were superb in picking off their German opposition with two goals in quick succession just before the 70-minute mark. They swaggered around the Veltins-Arena as if they were the home team. And with the exception of Schalke's indefatigable goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer, there were times when it felt like a training exercise.
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| Giggs's cool finish put United ahead |
When Wayne Rooney added the second of United's goals on 69 minutes – after Ryan Giggs had finally broken through – thoughts switched to Sunday's Premier League game against Arsenal. Ferguson's team have found their late-season tempo and it looks ominous for Arsène Wenger's side now.
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| Rooney netted United's second |
That it took United 67 minutes to beat Neuer was a source of some disbelief at both ends of the stadium. The visitors dominated the game and in many respects just two goals feels like a poor return given their grip on the game. The second leg at Old Trafford on Wednesday will be a formality on this evidence: United are on their way to a third Champions League final in four years.
On 28 May it will be at Wembley, where Sir Matt Busby's team triumphed in 1968, and United will face Real Madrid or Barcelona – either of whom will represent a serious step-up in class from last night's opponents. The lingering question over Schalke was: how did a team this poor eliminate Internazionale in the previous round?
For all the poverty of Schalke, this was a great United performance from back to front. Rooney and Javier Hernandez destroyed Schalke's defence with their running. At the back, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic supervised the Schalke attack without the slightest suggestion of unease. United could have scored five more.
Those who hold the German Bundesliga up as a model of perfect governance and great football would do well to keep their counsel for a while. Schalke, themselves in debt to the tune of £200m, were an embarrassment to the traditions of their country's football. They have a wonderful stadium and great fans but that is not much to shout about when the players perform like drains.
There are some halves of football where one team shades it, others when a team rides their luck. But last night there was no debating the length and breadth of United's dominance and no explaining how they failed to go in at least a goal to the good.
This did not have the feel of a Champions League semi-final first leg. Rather it played out more like an FA Cup third-round tie in which Ferguson had sent out his first string against a team from the Blue Square Premier. A Blue Square Premier team, that is, with a Champions League goalkeeper.
Manuel Neuer 0, Manchester United 0 might have been a more fitting scoreline for the Veltins-Arena's giant scoreboard. The Germany goalkeeper, who made his recent announcement that he will leave Schalke on Facebook, was in remarkable form. He had to be – he was the last, and often first, line of defence against a relentless sequence of United attacks.
It should be said that despite their lack of a goal, Ferguson's team were magnificent in the first half. None more so than Rooney and Hernandez who have turned into arguably the most exhilarating strike partnership in European football in the space of a few months. They tore Schalke apart with their movement and all they missed was a goal.
There were 12 scoring opportunities for United in the first half that would merit a serious mention in less eventful games and many more other half-chances. None more so than the one that came just before half-time when Rooney played in Giggs and Neuer, advancing off his line, made a brilliant save.
It was not the first time. The 25-year-old Germany international who is supposedly Bayern Munich-bound, but looked every inch a worthy successor to Edwin van der Sar last night, made six outstanding saves in the first half from Rooney, Hernandez, Giggs and the excellent Park Ji-sung .
Among others, the Schalke keeper tipped one shot from Rooney over the bar in the third minute. He got down to another from Hernandez in the 14th minute, getting enough on the ball to slow it down. A back-post header from Giggs on 27 minutes was also blocked. By the time he went one-on-one with United's 37-year-old just before the break you half expected Neuer to come out on top.
Matching United's 4-4-2 formation, Schalke found themselves overwhelmed in midfield and both full-backs looked exposed to the running of Park and Antonio Valencia. In the middle of defence, Christoph Metzelder, the Germany international, was shredded by the running of Hernandez. His crude foul on Rooney on 34 minutes was worthy of a booking at the very least.
There was just one heart-in-mouth moment from United when, in a rare foray out of their half, Schalke's Alexander Baumjohann was barged over in the United area by Valencia. He got away with that one although it would have been just United's luck if the penalty had been given.
Neuer kept Schalke in it for as long as he could, pushing a Michael Carrick header over the bar two minutes into the new half. For a while around the hour, United seemed to lose their way and the previous momentum of their attacks waned. Then, on 67 minutes, they found their way through. Rooney dinked a ball through the defence for Giggs and this time he put the ball through Neuer's legs.
Two minutes later, Valencia played in Hernandez and his cross was turned in by Rooney. This game, this tie, was over and Ferguson changed to a five-man midfield to shore the game up. Even so, his team might have had more goals but on this evidence, two will be more than enough come Wednesday at Old Trafford.
Man of the match Rooney.
Match rating 6/10.
Referee C V Carballo (Spain).
Attendance 54,000.
Source : The Independent 27 April 2011
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