In the history of the Champions League, one once has a team
that’s lost a first round tie at home managed to turn around the tie to win on aggregate,
and Chelsea joined a long list of competitors to fall to that stat when failing
to turn around their first leg deficit at Old Trafford last night.
Inter, who have just one victory on their travels in the
tournament this term and have one just five of their last 16 meetings away to German
opposition, are sure to have their campaign end tonight, whether that be with a
bang or a whimper, thanks to their 5-2 deficit to Schalke from their first leg
collapse.
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| Edu - Had beating of Inter in Milan |
Raul, Edu, Jefferson Farfan and Jose Juardo gratefully accepted the gifts coming their way
in the 2nd half as Inter crumbled following the dismissal of Cristian Chivu,
while the choice of Chivu at centre half alongside Ranocchia was badly exposed,
as their slow high line was proven to be past it in more ways than one.
The surprise package of this year's tournament, Schalke hold
a healthy three-goal cushion having won 5-2 in the San Siro in last week's
first leg and while Inter were able to beat Bayern Munich at the Allainz Arena,
Schalke have never lost a European tie after winning the first leg away from
home and they will be boosted by the nine goals they have scored in their last
three home Champions League games.
In any case Inter have only one win in four away matches in
the tournament and an even worse defensive record, have conceded eight goals in
their last three Champions League matches and 14 in their last ten games in all
competitions.
Schalke are in ninth place in the league table and six
points adrift from fifth-placed Mainz for Europa League qualification but they’ve
already proven themselves to be much better than that in this season’s
competition. Before their 3-1 win over Valencia they had previously lost 1-0 to
Stuttgart, underlining how dangerous it is to use recent form to underline Schalke’s
chances.
All of this makes Schalke looks quite good at 7/4 but there
are some concerns. They are without the suspended Jefferson Farfan, who picked
up a yellow card in the San Siro, while Christoph Metzelder is doubtful with a
broken nose. Long-term absentees Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Christoph Moritz are
both still recovering from knee injuries, and both are huge misses despite the
fact that they can call on Raul and Edu.
Goals are likely to be here in force. All of Inter’s away games in Europe this
season have gone over 2.5 goals while Schalke have scored eight in their last
two Champions League games alone, so ¾ about Over 2.5 with the likes of Bet365
is a perfectly fair price, and over 3.5 is offered at 9/5 with Sportingbet,
which is again fair. If you don’t fancy the numbers game, Both teams to score
is 8/13 in general.
Inter can finally use Lucio, even if it’s all too late to
change things, but he will do better than Chivu, and Walter Samuel is back, although
that’ll surely be for the most crucial player in a squad with plenty of
attacking talent may be Samuel Eto’o. He’s currently second (8) behind Lionel
Messi (9) in the chase for the Champions League golden boot. With 16 shots on target
(this also being his last chance to get a goal in the tournament) he seems sure
to be at the head of things and may be able to beat Neuer tonight.
Advice
1 pt Samuel Eto’o to score anytime (2/1 Coral)
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