FC Schalke v Inter Milan: Champions League match facts
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
- Reigning holders Inter Milan went down 5-2 in the first leg at the San Siro despite taking the lead twice. Goals from Dejan Stankovic (1) and Diego Milito (34) were cancelled out by Joel Matip (17) and Edu (40) before Schalke took control in the second half, Raul (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.Luigi Simoni was in charge of Inter when they took revenge in the quarter-finals the following season. Ronaldo earned the Nerazzurri a 1-0 first-leg win and although Michael Goossens cancelled this out in the 90th minute of the return, Taribo West's extra-time effort earned the Italian side aggregate victory en route to lifting the trophy.
MATCH BACKGROUND
- 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 Bayern Munich in the last round.
- Inter are bidding to become the first team to successfully defend the trophy in the UEFA Champions League era. This is their 12th European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-final and they have won eight of their previous 11.
- Schalke, by contrast, are in good shape to make it third time lucky after quarter-final defeats in 1958/59 and 2007/08.
- Schalke's 3-1 second-leg victory against Valencia in the last-16 was the third straight UEFA Champions League home game in which they scored three goals. They are unbeaten against Italian opposition in Gelsenkirchen with three wins and two draws.
- Their most recent Italian visitors were Palermo in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup round of 16. Levan Kobiashvili (penalty), Soren Larsen and Mimoun Azaouagh earned Schalke a 3-0 victory as they overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit.
- Inter have won and lost in Germany already this season. They went down 3-0 at Werder Bremen on Matchday Six but secured a dramatic 3-2 win at Bayern in the last-16. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, they came back from 2-1 down in Bavaria to prevail with a late Goran Pandev goal and thereby triumph on away goals.
- Inter's victory at Bayern was their first away from home in the 2010/11 competition and their first in their last five visits to Germany. Their previous away success against Bundesliga opponents had been a 2-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League second group stage.
- Inter's overall record away to German opposition is W5 D7 L4.
- However, only twice in the UEFA Champions League era – Inter's triumph at Bayern and the 1995/96 semi-finals, when AFC Ajax recovered from losing 1-0 to Panathinaikos FC with a 3-0 away triumph – has a team turned round a tie after a home first-leg defeat.
- Inter have won three of the seven UEFA competition ties in which they have lost the first leg at home, against TPS Turku in the 1987/88 UEFA Cup second round (0-1 home, 2-0 away) and Lyon in the 1997/98 UEFA Cup second round (1-2 home, 3-1 away).
- Schalke have won all 10 UEFA competition ties in which they recorded an away first-leg victory, including two in which they initially triumphed by three-goal margins: against APOEL (2008/09 UEFA Cup first round, 4-1 away, 1-1 home) and Fiorentina (1977/78 UEFA Cup first round, 3-0 away, 2-1 home).
- Only one team has overturned a three-goal home first-leg defeat in UEFA competition; Slovan Liberec were awarded a 3-0 forfeit win at Dynamo Bucharest 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.
UEFA MILESTONES AND STATISTICS
FC SCHALKE
- Schalke have scored 46 goals in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final.
- The Gelsenkirchen club have conceded 49 goals in the European Champion Clubs' Cup. UEFA Champions League statistics.
- Schalke have collected 23 yellow cards, more than any other side in the quarter-finals.
- Jefferson Farfan is the only player to have collected five yellow cards in this season's competition and serves a one-game ban following his booking in Milan.
- Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Jose Manuel Jurado are within a booking of suspension.
INTER MILAN
- Edu's second of the night in the first leg was the 150th Inter have conceded in the European Champion Clubs' Cup. UEFA Champions League statistics
- The holders have conceded 19 goals, four more than any other team in the quarter-finals.
- Samuel Eto'o has scored eight goals this season, the joint highest total along with Lionel Messi and Mario Gomez.
- Lucio is available after a one-game ban; Cristian Chivu misses the match following his first-leg red card while Thiago Motta will incur a suspension with his next booking.
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