Schalke 04 Vs. Inter Milan, UEFA Champions League: Raul, Benedikt Höwedes Goals Put Schalke Through To Semifinals

Schalke 04 are through to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals for the first time, having defeated Inter Milan 2-1 on the day, and 7-3 on aggregate, easily disposing of the title holders. Raúl put the home side ahead just before the break, and although Inter were able to answer through a goal by Thiago Motta, the visitors never appeared as though they’d be able to score the requisite five goals to put them ahead in the tie, even without the fine work of Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Sure enough, it was Schalke that got the final goal of the match, through Benedikt Höwedes, and earned the right to face Manchester United in the next round.

Although it was Inter Milan that clearly needed to score in the first half, the attacking players just couldn’t find a shot, with Wesley Sneijder and Yuto Nagatomo both sending attempts well over the crossbar, while Maicon scuffed a free kick routine way wide. Instead it was Schalke, still intent on attacking, that opened the scoring. Raúl split apart the Inter defense to go one on one with Júlio César, who responded by falling over in an attempt to get at the ball. The Spaniard simply stepped aside to put the ball in the net.

Leonardo is well known for his half-time talks, the likes of which have inspired Inter to come back from 1-0 to beat Genoa 5-2 in the second half, or overcome a 3-1 aggregate deficit to beat Bayern Munich and advance to this very game. This time, however, the Brazilian was unable to create enough motivation -- or perhaps the Inter attack was simply not strong or creative enough to get through the excellent Schalke defense. A shocking concept, I know. Thiago Motta did manage to break through to tap in a header from Lucio, but in the end, it was only a consolation goal for the defending champions.

Instead the glory of the final goal goes to Höwedes, who’d already had a goal disallowed for offside earlier in the half. Raúl should also be lauded, having sent a floating ball over the head of the Inter midfield, allowing Höwedes to break free on the right, the center back easily passing two Inter defenders. Júlio César, making yet another poor goalkeeping decision, rushed out to stop the defender, only to try and double back to the net. The maneuver was unsurprisingly unsuccessful, as all he could do was watch Höwedes’s ball settle into the back of the net.

And so the dreams of two consecutive Champions League titles for Inter have died, while Schalke must continue to not allow themselves to imagine lifting the trophy. After all, Manchester United have yet to lose a match in the tournament and are the favorites to take their domestic title, while Schalke -who, to be fair, have lost just their opening match, to Lyon -- are the perpetual underdogs, it seems.