Serge Gnabry scored a hat-trick and Leroy Sané dazzled on debut in an 8-0 win for the champions on gala nightFriday night. Opening night. Gala night for the champions. Yet if it was so familiar for Bayern Munich, it was alien too. The Rekordmeister has been here so many times that you could forgive it being cruised through on autopilot, as the board did when they and their guests from Gelsenkirchen sat in the directors box without social distancing or masks, earning the club a ticking off from Bavaria’s minister of health, Melanie Huml.Despite all the regular tells – not least a pair of effervescent wingers wearing the numbers 7 and 10 who tore poor Schalke to bits, more of...
The questioning of Lucien Favre is only intensifying after a 0-0 draw for BVB against their local rivalsThe cliche about draws between rivals keeping the peace may be habitually overcooked – the mere sight of a blue Schalke jersey at Dortmund Hauptbahnhof after Saturday’s game caused some consternation, according to local media – but a similar view over the context of the stalemate might occasionally be reached, as was the case here. “After the turf derby between FC Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund,” wrote Der Westen’s Daniel Sobolewski, “fans from both camps were in agreement. The 0-0 was a lucky one for BVB, and was not enough for S04.”Both sets of supporters, then, ended the afternoon with empty stomachs, but...
On paper, Borussia Dortmund should have hammered Schalke but a 4-2 defeat has virtually ended their Bundesliga aspirationsIf it was going to fall apart maybe it was always going to be here, now and in this way. This was a Revierderby that looked as if it might be Schalke’s worst nightmare in a season full of them. The distance between them and arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund was 42 points at kick-off, a gap that had never been as pronounced at this stage of a Bundesliga season before. This looked like a Saturday afternoon in Westfalen – where Dortmund had been yet to lose in the league this season – in which clichés about derbies and form books could be safely left...
Pep Guardiola has played down City’s threat in Europe but this 7-0 hiding of Schalke means they must assume mantle of Champions League contendersThis last-16 tie was over by the interval, a feat achieved in seven minutes when Manchester City scored three times and did some of the growing up Pep Guardiola wants his team to do.This was his mantra going into the match: that to mature from “teenagers” to Champions League men Schalke had to be dispatched and the side secure their place in Friday’s quarter‑final draw. Related: Manchester City enjoy seven-goal stroll into last eight against limp Schalke Continue reading...
Domenico Tedesco’s future as Schalke manager is increasingly uncertain as fans vented their fury at the team’s dismal formIf you thought, before they welcomed Fortuna Düsseldorf on Saturday, that things couldn’t get much worse for Schalke, already saddled with their lowest points total at this stage in the season since 1983 (they were relegated, in case you wondered), then you were wrong. So, so wrong. Ask coach Domenico Tedesco, met with a hot reception as he went to acknowledge the home supporters after the team’s 4-0 defeat, the latest humiliation in a season of chastening experiences. Otherwise, ask Benjamin Stambouli, who began the afternoon wearing the captain’s armband and ended it having a pair of supporters demand it back from...