El Clasico: Manuel Neuer

0 – 2

Schalke vs Manchester United

I guess I could be right when I said that Manuel Neuer could be the next Van der Sar (also, I didn’t realize he was the captain). He made a lot of awesome saves, denying Man U’s dangerous scoring attempts from Rooney, Giggs, etal. He’s probably the main reason the score was still 0-0 by half-time.

for me, Manuel Neuer was the man of the match
photo courtesy of uefa.com

But after 67 minutes of deadlock, Man U finally beat Neuer when Ryan Giggs found the back of the net from a set up by Wayne Rooney. And two minutes later, Rooney scored another one, this time from a set up from Javier Hernandez. Well, Neuer held it off for as long as he could. Schalke’s defense just exposed their keeper one too many times in this match. I’m surprised that Man U didn’t score more than two.

I was hoping for Schalke to pull off another 5-2 kind of win against the Red Devils. But Man U’s defense was just pretty solid, neutralizing any attempts from Schalke.

Jersey swap watch: Saw Raul swap jerseys with Giggs after the match. Raul had hoped to swap jerseys with Giggs and actually said so prior to the match. Neuer approached Giggs afterwards, I think he may have asked for a jersey too, but I’m only just guessing, hehe. This is one of my favourite parts of the game, the minutes after the final whistle blows when players take off their shirts, swap jerseys… I wish the camera/coverage would be a bit longer during this part.

Christoph Metzelder wearing a face mask

On an unrelated note… I’ve been wondering why Christoph Metzelder was wearing a mask when I saw their previous games. Apparently he broke his nose… for the 4^th time. Too bad, though, coz without the mask, he’s kinda hot J

Metzelder without the mask. Isn't he a cutie?

Aggregate Score:

Schalke: 0

Manchester United: 2

Here are numbers:

Schalke		Man. United
0	Goals scored	2
5	Attempts on target	10
3	Attempts off target	6
3	Corners	6
26' 8''	Possession (time)	48' 8''
35	Possession (%)	65
12	Fouls committed	15
2	Yellow cards	1
0	Red cards	0

Goals:

67^th minute – Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)

69^th minute – Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

Yellow Cards:

Christoph Metzelder (Schalke)

Fabio (Manchester United)

Hans Sarpei (Schalke)

More great articles on the match here:

Dominant United too strong for Schalke

United beats Schalke 2-0 in CL semifinal

Manchester United outclass Schalke in 2-0 stroll

Schalke 04 0 Manchester United 2 - result

Schalke 0-2 Manchester United: Giggs & Rooney put Red Devils in pole position to reach final despite Neuer masterclass

United beats Schalke 2-0 in CL semifinal

Man Utd a step closer to Champions League final

Schalke vs Manchester United (1^st Leg)

April 27 @ 2:30AM

Edwin Van der Sar, one of Man U’s dependable figures, chases one last Champions League glory. The 40 year-old Dutch goalie is set to retire after this season. But will an old foe, in the person of Raul, stand in his way? I love how eufa.com calls them the “two golden oldies” but it kinda makes me feel old as when I started to follow football and the Champions League, these two “golden oldies” were at the heights of their careers. Now they are at their twilight (why do I sound so poetic today??? I almost typed in “the epic battle” to describe this match… I think I’ve watched too many Barney scenes in HIMYM).

Man U are the match favorites with their Ryan Giggs (another “golden oldie”), Van der Sar, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and the iconic Sir Alex Ferguson. But I will be rooting for Schalke. This may be Schalke's first ever trip to the Champions League semi-finals but, who knows, maybe they could stage another surprising upset like they did with their 5-2 victory against the defending champions, Inter Milan (and to think it was an away game).

I like Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick’s outlook, he says, “Who knows how many of these players will play in a match like this in the coming years? The same goes for me. This is my biggest game so far judging by the attention it is getting in general and from the media. Surely, over the course of these two games, Manchester have more to lose than us. We have to stay focused but also enjoy this.”

With all this talk of golden oldies, let’s now take a look at the up-and-coming players. Could Schalke’s Manuel Neuer be the next Van der Sar?

He’s kinda cute, don’t you think?

photo courtesy of Getty Images

Interesting fact: Raul may have scored 71 Champions League goals and he's a serious threat to defense (scoring a goal every two games), but he has never scored against Van der Sar in the competition. Another interesting fact, Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to sign Raul when he left Real Madrid. But because Raul already had some sort of verbal agreement with Schalke, he turned down Man U’s offer (coz he’s classy that way :P).

Stadium: Arena AufSchalke (Schalke‘s home turf)

More great news articles on the match here:

Cool Van der Sar savours final straight

Neuer scaling the heights with Schalke

Schalke's Rangnick thrilled to meet Sir Alex

Match facts: Schalke v Manchester United

Rangnick braced for Schalke's 'biggest game'

United face up to German hoodoo

Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson desperate for Champions League triumph

Champions League preview: Schalke - Manchester United

We will aim to beat Manchester United home and away – Schalke boss Ralf Rangnick