Schalke Manager Faces Inter at Home

Ralf Rangnick  ©Getty Images

With four wins out of four in Gelsenkirchen, an unbeaten home record against Italian sides and a three-goal lead, FC Schalke 04 have reason to believe as FC Internazionale Milano visit.

FC Schalke 04 will look to their strong home form as they bid to secure a first UEFA Champions League semi-final appearance at the expense of holders FC Internazionale Milano.

Schalke have won four out of four in the competition in Gelsenkirchen and have never lost a tie in UEFA competition after winning the first leg away, though Leonardo's Inter won at FC Bayern München in the last round.

The holders will need to better even that feat this time having gone down 5-2 at San Siro despite taking the lead twice. Goals from Dejan Stanković (1) and Diego Milito (34) were cancelled out by Joel Matip (17) and Edu (40) before Schalke took control in the second half, Raúl González (53), an Andrea Ranocchia own goal (57) and Edu (75) completing a memorable victory.

This contest is a rematch of the 1997 UEFA Cup final. 

Huub Stevens' Schalke won the first leg in Gelsenkirchen 1-0 through Marc Wilmots' 69th-minute effort. Iván Zamorano struck the only goal of the return for Roy Hodgson's Inter after 84 minutes, although Schalke subsequently prevailed 4-1 on penalties.

Schalke 04 coach Ralf Rangnick says they will be treating their UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg at home to FC Internazionale Milano as if it is starting goalless. "It's half-time now," he said. "We may be 5-2 up, but the game isn't over." 

Ralf Rangnick, Schalke coach

"We'll play for the win and that's how we want to go into the match. We will start with the actual score in mind, which is 0-0... Only half of the tie has been played – it's half-time now, we may be 5-2 up, but the game isn't over. I said before this tie that Inter are clear favourites and that we feel good in our role as outsiders. We now have to make sure that we put in a similarly intense display to the one in Milan."

"Today we will take a look at Inter's game against Chievo. We know they rested a couple of players and played the same formation they used against us, a 4-3-2-1; that's how we expect them to line up tomorrow. I don't believe there will be any big surprises. To me, the only open question is which of the four holding midfielders will be in the three spots."

£For us, it's similar: If everyone's fit, then it's all about who will replace [the suspended] Jefferson Farfán? We only made one change in our last game, bringing in Lukas Schmitz for Alexander Baumjohann, because Baumjohann cannot play three games in seven days. When I see that the guys are fit enough, I see no reason to change anything in this so far very successful side."

Leonardo, Inter coach

"I wouldn't say we need a miracle but we know it will be difficult.Who is to say what happened for Schalke at San Siro can't happen here for us? We have to perform differently that is for sure. Some may say it's impossible but it's possible to cancel out a four-goal deficit. Either way, we want to produce a great spectacle."

"Things have to go differently from the first leg and only an outstanding performance will be good enough to see us through. The team know what's required of them. They all have experience of such games: life has its ups and downs and in football anything is possible."

"We still have 24 hours until the match – it feels like an eternity. Psychologically, you cannot forget the first leg. Pulling back four goals is anything but normal but we are prepared for it. In the first match we were heavily punished for our mistakes: we know we have to change that. We have nothing to lose."

Leonardo welcomes Lúcio back from suspension, the Brazilian international likely to come in for Cristian Chivu who is banned following his first-leg dismissal. Another centre-back, Walter Samuel, is a long-term absentee because of a knee injury.

Only one team has overturned a three-goal home first-leg defeat in UEFA competition; FC Slovan Liberec were awarded a 3-0 forfeit win at FC Dinamo Bucureşti in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League play-offs but the Romanian side won the return by the same scoreline and ultimately prevailed 9-8 on penalties.