Advertisement

Madrid kick Schalke out of Champions League

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
Madrid kick Schalke out of Champions League
Dejected Schalke. Photo: DPA

Schalke 04 failed to prevent what had seemed like the inevitable, and has been booted out of the Champions League after losing 1:3 to Real Madrid.

Advertisement

Despite the defeat, the young team were widely lauded for a decent performance.

"The team fought, and for long stretches, did very well," trainer Jens Keller said afterwards.

Mentioning keeper Rolf Fährmann's heroic attempts to keep the ball out of Schalke's net, Keller added, "Fährmann again managed to produce a world-class performance."

Tim Hoogland, who put away Schalke's goal in the 31st minute, said afterwards, "We wanted to say farewell properly. We managed to do that. We can close this chapter of the Champions League with our heads held high."

But the goals - although only half as many as in the teams' last fixture, when Madrid won 6:1 three weeks ago - seemed to have left a bad taste for Fährmann.

"The goals were very, very bitter for us. Until then we had played really well. You could see we had showed character."

The reasonable result was at least in part due to Madrid only fielding a B-team, albeit a strengthened one - a much weaker side than had been put up against Schalke in the Veltins Arena three weeks ago.

Madrid's coach Carlo Ancelotti was said to be keeping his attention - and his best players - for the potentially title-decider at the weekend against Barcelona.

READ MORE: Schalke lose 6-1 at home to Real Madrid

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also