Ernst sees hope for crestfallen Schalke
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
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Fabian Ernst believes FC Schalke 04 "still have hope" despite a 1-0 home loss to FC Barcelona and Gianluca Zambrotta agreed, saying that "one goal is nothing".
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Midfielder Fabian Ernst believes FC Schalke 04 paid the price for showing FC Barcelona too much respect in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final, yet insists the German club "still have hope" despite the 1-0 defeat.
Nervy opening
Mirko Slomka's men appeared wracked by nerves in the opening minutes at the Arena AufSchalke, affording their opponents a surprising amount of space and getting pegged back deep inside their own territory. They were punished in the 12th minute when Barcelona's 17-year-old striker Bojan Krkić opened the scoring, converting Thierry Henry's cross from close in. While Schalke slowly recovered and succeeded in applying pressure on the visitors' goal in the second period, they failed to beat Víctor Valdés and now have a mountain to climb at the Camp Nou a week today.
'Too passive'
Ernst was struggling to hide his disappointment as he reflected on Schalke's sluggish start. "We were too passive at the start of the game and Barcelona punished us," the 28-year-old told uefa.com. "We seemed happy to watch them pass the ball about, but if you do that against such a skilful side you are asking for trouble. It was difficult for us after conceding early and our attacking players in particular struggled because Barça defended really well."
Missed chances
Yet Schalke, who are appearing in the last eight of Europe's top club competition for the first time in 49 years, grew more positive after the break, with Halil Altıntop, Heiko Westermann and Marcelo Bordon all having presentable chances. The finishing was below par, however, and Ernst said: "We definitely have regrets because of our slow start and our bad finishing in the second half. We had five or six chances and should have scored at least once. But we can draw encouragement from the second half – we showed we can pose Barcelona problems if we compete properly. We still have hope."
'Competitive match'
Meanwhile, Barcelona captain Carles Puyol knew Schalke had given him and his fellow defenders a testing night. "It was a really competitive match and we're delighted to come away with a win," the 29-year-old said. "It was a workmanlike performance rather than a stylish one, but a victory in the Champions League is always valuable. Schalke are a good side with lots of physical players and we needed to dig deep. We'll not be taking anything for granted in the second leg."
'Exciting future'
Italian international defender Gianluca Zambrotta echoed Puyol's words, insisting nobody in the Barcelona ranks will be thinking about the semi-finals until the Schalke tie is finished. "People are asking me if I'd prefer Manchester United [FC] or AS Roma but I'll not answer that because there's still a lot of work to do. We've won by one goal but one goal is nothing." Bojan's first goal in European football has nonetheless put the Spanish club in the ascendancy, and Zambrotta was full of praise for the 17-year-old. "He's such a talented guy and whenever he plays he's hungry for goals," said the former Juventus full-back. "Tonight he scored another vital goal and there's no doubt he has an exciting future."