Just as he did through his legendary career with Real Madrid, Raúl lead Schalke 04 past Bayern München to earn a spot in the final of the DFB Pokal against MSV Duisburg.

Entering the contest both sides have languished through a troubling campaign with Bayern well off pace at fourth in the table and Königsblauen languishing at the tenth spot with many calling for the dismissal of manager Felix Magath.

The early stages saw the contest tightly played as neither side was willing to expose their selves going forward. After an early effort by Bayern, Raúl offered a glimpse of what was to come as his volley was deftly cleared off the line by striker Mario Gómez, playing the role of timely defender. However from the ensuing corner, Schalke lodged the lone goal as Jefferson Farfán’s provision was headed on by Benedikt Höwedes, with the great veteran showing his predatory skills and nodding the ball in from close range. Down by one, the faithful of Allianz Arena urged their side and on with Arjen Robben shortly thereafter pushing a close range effort off course. Nine minutes shy of the break Thomas Müller’s heroics saved Bayern falling behind from two as he cleared Benedikt Höwedes header, courtesy of a corner, off the line

At the restart, Bayern came out with venom as they search for an equalizer. A early Danijel Pranjić’s weighted through ball was just beyond the touch of Arje Robben and a further effort was corralled by Schalke ‘keeper Manuel Neuer. Just shy of the hour, Bayern manager Louis van Gaal summoned Toni Kroos for Anatoliy Tymoshchuk but the visitor’s defensive stance was proving to be a formidable opponent. In the final ten minutes, Bayern, with Miroslav Klose and Daniel Van Buyten into the affair, pushed forward. However after seeing match day referee Florian Meyer waive off a penalty call, Schalke ‘keeper Manuel Neuer stopped a high probability chance from seven metres by Franck Ribéry to seal the 1-0 victory.

The Author: John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook, Twitter with his business leadership and motivational video logs on his YouTube channel. In addition to writing for Europa League News, his Football reports appear for pre-eminent Russian media outlet Sports-Express (Спорт-Экспресс), the legendary Spartak Moscow.

Within the sporting world, his work is widely regarded as some of the most influential in the sport. Whether it you refer to it as Football, Fútbol, Fußball, Футбол, Calcio or Soccer, his protocols are a cornerstone in training circles across the world. For more information on his sports training practice please visit Renegade Training™ and join their group on Facebook.

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Despite ninety-minutes of aggressive play, the legendary Revierderby derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 ended as a scoreless draw in front of capacity crowd at Westfalenstadion. With the result, the Schwarzgelben maintain their stranglehold at the top of the Bundesliga table with a twelve-point gap over Bayer 04 Leverkusen, whilst Felix Magath’s struggling Gelsenkirchen side are well off pace at the ninth spot.

Coming off their demolition of VfL Wolfsburg, BVB manager Jürgen Klopp made one change to his starting eleven with Felipe Santana coming in for Serbian international Neven Subotić out due to suspension.

Without the services of Angelos Charisteas, Tim Hoogland, Levan Kenia and Christoph Moritz, Felix Magath once again trotted out is formidable attacking duo of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Raúl, with a further four changes Lukas Schmitz, Atsuto Uchida, Anthony Annan, and Jose Jurado for Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Christian Pander, Christoph Moritz
Peer Kluge and Ciprian Deac.

Despite the broad distance between the two, the 137th edition of Revierderby brings out the heated rivalry and as expected, tension was high. From the opening stages, the seemingly championship bound Dortmunders went on the attack, with Jakub Błaszczykowski’s pace a particular problem for the visitors. Pounding away at the Schalke 04 end, the clear hero of the evening was goalkeeper Manuel Neuer who stopped Mario Götze and Jakub Błaszczykowski from high probability range in the opening five minutes. BVB continued its attacking assault with efforts shortly thereafter Mats Hummels and Jakub Błaszczykowski, but each was off-course. The final quarter-hour before the break saw chances sparse as the sides when to the change rooms deadlocked.

There was little change of play after the re-start though Lucas Barrios was presented with an acute angle chance well shy of the hour but he steered it off course. On the hour, the Paraguayan striker narrowly missed breaking the deadlock when he rasped Łukasz Piszczek’s provision off the woodwork. BVB was pushing the ball forward now with Sven Bender foiled by in-form Manuel Neuer. With thirteen minutes remaining in regulation time, Schalke 04 saw its best chance come up empty as José Jurado, after getting on the end of Raúl’s sumptuous provision on the right channel, saw his effort bound off BVB ‘keeper Roman Weidenfeller with Łukasz Piszczek heading the ball off the line. Moments later Robert Lewandowski raced towards a long ball but was stopped by Manuel Neuer, only to Mario Götze’s lob from the right pulled down by the goalkeeper. At the eighty-fifth minute, Mario Götze was unable to convert on a high probability opportunity as he sent the ball off the woodwork after navigating around the ‘keeper and without further incident the match concluded as a nil draw.

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Werder Bremen continued their push towards the Champions League with a 2-0 defeat of Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen. With the result, Werder sits third in the Bundesliga table, two points above Bayer 04 Leverkusen, whilst Schalke hold down the second spot.

In front of a capacity crowd, Schalke came out quickly with Kevin Kurányi, on the verge of moving to Dinamo Moskva, nodding Rafinha’s cross off the woodwork midway of the half. The striker later missed sending Jefferson Farfán’s provision into the net and the match went to the break scoreless.

At the restart, Werder came out with a fire burning in its heart and grabbed the lead they would not relinquish five minutes shy of the hour as Mesut Özil outmaneuvered Schalke defenders before hammering the ball past Manuel Neuer from fifteen metres. Die Grün-Weißen doubled its lead nine minutes as lead as Edu gave up the ball, with Mesut Özil capitalizing and sending a cross from the right side of area that Hugo Almeida turned in from six metres. For the balance of time, Thomas Schaaf’s side clamped down the affair and claimed the 2-0 victory.

Holding a narrow two-point advantage at third place, Werder welcomes Hamburg at Weserstadion next Saturday in the final match of the campaign.

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Hertha Berlin’s catastrophic season took another step closer to relegation as they fell 1-0 to Schalke 04 at Olympiastadion. With the result, Schalke move level in points with Bayern München at the top of the table, whilst Berlin as at the absolute bottom. For the Berliners, with only a single win at home this year, they have only a flicker of chance to avoid relegation and in all likelihood the capital city will lose the top flight of football next year.

With the noble intentions of the hosts cry “DER GLAUBE LEBT!” and their voracious fans waiting for a response, the match started tight. Neither side was willing to expose themselves, as a slip could prove fatal. After the quarter-hour, Hertha fashioned the first chance of the day with Theofanis Gekas sending Adrián Ramos provision over the bar. After Schalke jousted with a fine chance the balance of the half ground down to a midfield battle with nary an effort at either goalkeeper.

Schalke came out determined after the break but Berliner ‘keeper Jaroslav Drobný stopped Hao Junmin from close range. Felix Magath’s side were beginning to dictate the run of play before a surge at the hour by the hosts. Through the work of Raffael and Theofanis Gekas, the Berliners began to carve out openings but each parry was dealt with by the visitors before disaster struck with three minutes remaining in regulation time. Die Königsblauen went out in front 1-0 as Vicente Sánchez got on the end of a long ball on the left flank before crossing to Jefferson Farfán, whose header was pushed out by Jaroslav Drobný, only to see Heiko Westermann swiftly deposited the rebound into the net from five metres. Without further incident, the match concluded 1-0 in Schalke’s favour and the 60,000 plus in attendance heads dropped in disbelief.

Though there are two weeks remaining in the campaign and Hertha will fight to the last moment, the chances are not great. Should they manage a stunning great escape, many questions will remain because this is far too good of a side to be playing in the second division. Their dysfunctional play is due large in part to a function of attention on the Europa League and forgetting domestic play until it is too late. While there are countless tactical decisions to be debated and personnel choices to be reviewed, the fact remains that while their efforts were channelled into the Europa League, they dug a hole that will likely cost the club and its fans dearly.

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Schalke 04 stepped closer to the Bundesliga title as they defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 at Gelsenkirchen. With the result, Felix Magath’s side sit two points behind first-place Bayern-München, whilst Borussia Mönchengladbach nestle in at the twelfth spot.

Coming of their win last week over Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia showed confidence early with Marco Reus narrowly missing the mark. However, at the eighth minute Croatian international Ivan Rakitić made no mistake as he accepted Jefferson Farfán’s pass and sent his powerful long distance drive into the top left corner of the net. After the hosts squandered a chance to increase the lead, Borussia squared the match at the sixteenth minute as Raúl Bobadilla latched on Logan Bailly’s long pass, before getting past Benedikt Höwedes and Peer Kluge and sending the ball into the back of the net. Borussia appeared comfortable absorbing the host’s pressure but just before the break, Schalke took the lead they would not relinquish as Jefferson Farfán sent in a close-range rebound of Kevin Kurányi header that came off a corner.

Two minutes after the restart, Dante was adjudged a penalty for contact with Mario Gavranović who was making his Bundesliga effort. In the subsequent effort, Ivan Rakitić stepped up with confidence and doubled the host’s margin. Though Borussia put up a mighty fight to close the margin, they came up empty and the match concluded with Schalke claiming all three points with a 3-1 victory.

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Coming off their victory over Manchester United in the Champions League, Bayern München defeated Schalke 04 2-1 at Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen. With the victory, Bayern regains top stop in the Bundesliga with Schalke a scant point behind.

Bayern, without the services of Arjen Robben were forced to call upon Martin Demichelis for Daniel van Buyten at the twenty-second minute after the Belgian international hobbled off. However Bayern went in front 1-0, four minutes shy of the hour as Franck Ribéry latched onto a loose ball at the edge of the area and powered it to the near left corner. In rapid fire succession, less than thirty secondslater, Louis van Gaal’s side doubled its lead after a poor touch by Rafinha allowed Bayern to surge forward before Thomas Müller received the ball from Ivica Olić and slotted it in from ten metres. Only five minutes later, Kevin Kurányi halved the margin as he headed Rafinha’s cross from the left flank. Bayern’s defending resolve was tested as four minutes before the break Hamit Altıntop was sent off, forcing his side to play a man down for the balance of the day. However, after the break Bayern displayed a composed defending ability and snuffed out the hosts advances. As time ran down Schalke saw Marcelo Bordon sent off with a poor challenge, in which he will be fortunate to escape further discipline but otherwise the match ended without further incident and Bayern München claiming a 2-1 victory.

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On the strength of Kevin Kurányi’s two goals, Schalke 04 defeated Bayer 04 Leverkusen at BayArena. The result continues manager Felix Magath push towards his second consecutive Bundesliga crown as the Gelsenkirchen side takes over the top spot, whilst Bayer 04 is third.

Die Königsblauen wasted no time in taking the match to their hosts and grabbed a one goal advantage at the eleventh minute in the first of Kevin Kurányi’s two goals. The striker, rumoured to be in route to Dinamo Moskva, gave Schalke the 1-0 lead from turned Benedikt Höwedes’s provision the right past ‘keeper René Adler, after a solid build-up of play from Jefferson Farfán. At the twenty-seventh minute, the striker added his seventeenth marker of the campaign when he nodded in Jefferson Farfán’s cross from the right. With the two-goal lead, Schalke dedicated their efforts to defending and though Bayer 04’s controlled ball possession, they barely made a threatening assault in the remaining hour. Though the striker narrowly missed his third goal, it mattered little with the outcome and Schalke claimed the 2-0 victory.

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Along with the rumours of Spanish international’s Albert Riera move from Liverpool to either CSKA or Spartak, there are considerable reports suggesting that both Dinamo is not finished in the transfer market.

Though once again unsubstantiated, there are considerable reports that Dinamo Moskva are closing in on striker Kevin Kurányi, presently with Schalke 04 of the German Bundesliga. The twenty-eight year-old striker, who has had problems in the past with management, has seen his form hit full stride with Felix Magath in-charge of the Gelsenkirchen-side with fifteen goals in the present campaign.

White-Blue’s fans, thinking of the striking tandem of Andriy Voronin and Kevin Kurányi, should likely temper their excitement as with Schalke only a point off Bayern München in the race for the Bundesliga crown, a move prior to the Russia transfer deadline of 8 April seems unlikely.

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Hamburger SV rebounded from recent problems to thwart Schalke 04’s championship efforts with a 2-2 draw at the Volksparkstadion. With the result, HSV sit at sixth in the Bundesliga table, whilst Schalke remains a point off first place Bayern München.

The early stages of the affair saw Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost loom large as he as he stopped menacing efforts by Jefferson Farfán and Kevin Kurányi. After withstanding those chances, the hosts opened the scoring five minutes shy of the break as Ruud van Nistelrooy volleyed a rebound of Piotr Trochowski’s free kick into the net, giving HSV the 1-0 lead at the break.

Two minutes past the hour Kevin Kurányi brough the match level as he latched onto an errant clearance by David Rozehnal and nodded the ball to the back of the net. Only six minutes later Ivan Rakitić gave Schalke the 2-1 lead from the spot after Ruud van Nistelrooy was adjudged a penalty for his foul on Alexander Baumjohann. The Croatian international took the penalty a second time after the match day referee ruled his teammates entered the area but that did not deter him on the second effort. After dodging a high quality chance by Schalke, HSV lodged the leveller with thirteen minutes remaining in regulation Jonathan Pitroipa turned in Piotr Trochowski’s cross. Though Schalke continued to looked likely to find the winner, HSV managed to hold on as the match concluded as a 2-2 draw, honours even.

Schalke 04 returns to play on Wednesday against Bayern München in the DFB Pokal before visiting Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Saturday, whilst Hamburger SV visits Borussia Mönchengladbach the following day.

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The Schalke 04 resurgence under manager Felix Magath continued, as they defeated VfB Stuttgart 2-1 in Gelsenkirchen. With the result, Schalke edges a point clear of Bayern München at the top of the Bundesliga table, whilst Stuttgart sits at seventh.

With much at stake, both sides were reluctant to expose themselves early and it was not till just shy of the quarter-hour that Schalke, narrowly missed breaking the deadlock when Kevin Kurányi sent effort from the edge of the box just outside the near right post. Die Schwaben came storming back and ten minutes before the break Pavel Pogrebynak got on the end of Sami Khedira’s through ball but Schalke ‘keeper Manuel Neuer denied his effort. Though Stuttgart continued to push the tempo of the affair, the match went to the break without a score.

Die Königsblauen took the lead a minute after the restart as Edu Gonçalves, in only his second match since moving from the Suwon Samsung Bluewings, latched onto a loose ball in the area and sent it past Jens Lehmann for the 1-0 lead. The lead was short-lived as four minutes later Serdar Tasci, from close-range, nodded in Zdravko Kuzmanović’s cross. However, in a back and forth affair, Schalke restored its lead five minutes later via a set-piece play that caught Stuttgart completely flat-footed, with Heiko Westermann being gifted the ball the left before firing across to Kevin Kurányi who then turned in his fourteenth goal of the campaign. Following the go-ahead goal, Schalke missed a chance to seal the victory before a late surge by Stuttgart. With a minute remaining in regulation time, Cristian Molinaro’s seemingly goal bound effort was cleared and Schalke claimed the 2-1 victory.

Stuttgart returns to play next Wednesday as they visit Barcelona in Champions League play before welcoming Hannover 96 in domestic play on Saturday. Schalke enjoy an extra day off as they return to action on 21 March, against Hamburger SV at the Volksparkstadion.

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