First-leg draw should see Schalke through
Short memories appear to be a characteristic of Bundesliga boardrooms judging by both the news that Louis van Gaal will leave Bayern Munich at the end of this season just 12 months after taking them within a game of the treble, while Felix Magath is expected to meet a similar fate at Schalke.
The three-time Bundesliga winning coach guided Schalke to a second-placed finish last year without splashing the cash but a chaotic summer raised hopes to the extent that, despite reaching the Champions League knockout stages and German Cup Final, his days in Gelsenkirchen are numbered.
Their league form is poor, with a run of three matches without a win leaving them in tenth, however they saw off Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in their domestic semi-final and earned a 1-1 draw in Valencia three weeks ago, so are in a favourable position to progress to the quarter-finals at [1.9].
The worry for the German side is that Valencia are in fine nick, having claimed three straight away victories against some of La Liga's most formidable hosts: Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and Real Mallorca. That's why they are only [2.1] to qualify, even though six of the last eight teams to draw a first-leg 1-1 at home have exited the competition.
That's a statistic that is difficult to ignore regardless of how well Valencia are playing right now, especially as Schalke have a perfect record in Gelsenkirchen in this year's Champions League, beating Benfica, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Lyon by two or more goals at the Veltins-Arena.
They have in fact won six in seven in front of their fans in the competition, the only club preventing them from being 100 per cent in that stretch being Barcelona, who overcame them 1-0 in 2008, so [2.66] is a massive price on them delivering again. First leg goal-getter Raul is [3.1] to net once more.
Schalke v Valencia
Kick-off: 7.45pm
Live on Sky Sports 2
Think Valencia can win in Germany? They are [2.96] to go through in style...
Published: 9 Mar 2011
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