Chapter 192: First victory over King Nan (Part 1)

Schalke successfully passed the German Cup semi-finals, but the finals will not start until the end of the league. There is still a long time before Schalke can put the German Cup finals aside.
On April 20th, in the 30th round of the Bundesliga, Schalke 04 went to Hesse to challenge Frankfurt.
In order to prepare for the Champions League semi-finals, Stevens only took a group of substitutes to the away game, and all other key players stayed in Gelsenkirchen to rest and prepare.
At the Forest Stadium in Frankfurt, Schalke, who played on the bench, lost 0:1 to his opponent.
But it doesn't matter, the Champions League semi-final is currently Schalke's most important game.
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As the Champions League semi-finals are approaching, all kinds of related news have started flying again.
This is the second time in the history of the Champions League that there has been a Bundesliga civil war. It is still a super dark horse challenging the overlord. German fans are very concerned about this series, especially the nearby Ruhr fans.
The Ruhr area has always been the most popular area in German football. This year Ruhr football has risen, and the Ruhr duo reached the Champions League semi-finals, which naturally stimulated the emotions of the Ruhr fans. Now the game tickets are about to be fired. The price is high.
The price of tickets for the Bundesliga has always been relatively cheap in Europe, but the Champions League matches are different. There will never be a shortage of spectators. The ticket price is also following the mainstream, not cheap at all.
This year's Champions League group stage, Schalke's home ticket price ranged from 50 to 100 euros.
After entering the knockout rounds, the official price was 120 euros, but in the round of 16 most fans bought tickets for more than 200 euros.
The quarterfinals played against the Cosmos team at home. It was really hard to find a ticket. It was said that someone bid 3,000 euros to ask for a ticket, but in the end they failed.
Compared with Bayern in the semifinals, the degree of ticket tension is only worse than in the quarterfinals.
Schalke reached the Champions League semi-finals, first of all, increased exposure and attracted sponsors, and secondly, Champions League bonuses, home tickets and additional income, which can make the team a lot of money.
To put it simply, the money they spent on buying Lee Chan-long at a high price last year has already earned it back.
The Champions League semi-finals are coming, and it is natural that the two sides are fighting each other. Schalke and Bayern, Dortmund and Real Madrid are indispensable for each other.
But just the day before the Champions League semi-final was about to begin, Dortmund had a shocking news.
Dortmund Gotze’s agent broke the news in front of reporters that Gotze will leave Dortmund after the end of the season. Soon Dortmund officials also answered in the affirmative. Bayern and Gotze’s agents have already submitted activations to Dortmund. After the end of the season, Bayern will take away Goetse by paying the liquidated damages application.
At present, the liquidated damages in the contract between Gotze and Dort are only 38 million euros, but Gotze's worth is close to 40 million. As long as Gotze nods and agrees, he may be forced to dig at any time.
However, the timing of this dig is very subtle. The Champions League semi-finals are coming soon, but the news that the head star has switched to a rival is really suffocating.
As soon as the news broke, Dortmund's stock price went down a lot.
And in the Champions League semi-final with Real Madrid, everyone is even less optimistic about the Hornets.
Seeing Dortmund's brutal digging, Schalke also felt sad about the death of a rabbit and a fox. The issue of Li Chenglong's contract renewal and salary increase has been put on the agenda.
In fact, it is mainly to increase liquidated damages.
The current liquidated damages in the Li Chenglong contract is 60 million euros. Although this price is high, it is not insured, especially after the hat-trick with Barcelona.
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At 8:45 pm on April 23, German time, the first leg of the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League semi-final is about to start at the Schalke Stadium.
In this match, both sides sent a 4231 formation.
On Schalke’s home game,
Goalkeeper: Hildebrand;
Defenders: Fox, Matip, Hewedes, Uchida Atsushi;
Midfielder: Kanter, Neustadt;
Midfielder: Bastos, Draxler, Jackie Lee;
Forward: Macari.
Bayern,
Goalkeeper: Neuer;
Defenders: Alaba, Boateng, Dante, Ram;
Midfielder: Schweinsteiger, Harvey Martinez;
Vanguard: Ribery, Muller, Robben;
Forward: Mario Gomez.
Before the game started, the commentator made a comparison of the two teams' data.
"Bayern Munich is the second most semi-final team in the history of the Champions League, second only to La Liga giants Real Madrid."
"This is the 15th time Bayern has reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. Before that, they have successfully advanced to the final 9 times and won 4 times."
"On Schalke's side, this is the second time in the history of their team that they have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. They have never advanced to the finals."
"Actually, Schalke has made the Champions League semi-finals only time before. They were 0:2 at home and 1:4 away from Manchester United. They have never won a game in the semi-finals of the Champions League. They even said Got a draw."
"If you look at the record of the match between Schalke and Bayern alone, this season, Schalke drew 2:2 at home and defeated Bayern at 0:4. This is the disadvantaged side."
"The last time Schalke beat Bayern, it was in the German Cup two seasons ago."
"And Schalke's winning hero Neuer has now guarded the gate for Bayern."
The commentator was almost nonsense, and the game officially started.
Since both sides know each other's knowledge, the game started directly into the topic.
In just 2 minutes of the opening, Robben found Mueller through the front court, Mueller returned the ball and Ribery followed.
Although the ball was blocked by Héwedes from the bottom line~EbookFREE.me~, Bayern played the form they should have from the beginning, which made Stevens on the sidelines feel cold.
Before the game, Stevens also imagined that if Bayern were suddenly in a bad shape, Schalke would have a chance.
But looking at it now, I think too much.
Just three minutes into Bayern’s offense, Li Chenglong matched Draxler two-by-one in the middle, and after avoiding Harvey Martinez, he took the first two steps and shot a long shot.
This long shot went straight to the upper right corner of the goal, but Neuer flew to take the ball off.
Proudly going to the Schalke Stadium is full of boos, heading at the "traitor" Neuer.
"Both teams started the game very well and we are likely to see a wonderful game."
The commentator’s statement is good. Both teams are indeed in good condition, well prepared, and the pace of the game is fast.
In the 10th minute, Li Chenglong broke through Alaba and sent a precise cross, but Makari's header missed the post under Boateng's interference.
In the 17th minute, Alaba grabbed Uchida in the backcourt and then took an angry shot. The ball hit Matip's arm, but the referee thought it was a passive handball. Matip's arm was close to the body, so there was no penalty.
In the 25th minute, Robben made a cross from the right. After Gomez flew the header, Muller followed up and shot. This time Hildebrand made a perfect performance, and his right foot was raised to block the close. Stabbed within easy reach.
Two minutes later, Li Chenglong still used his color and penetrated Boateng and Dante's defense with a straight kick in the middle, but Draxler, who went round and hit the goal, didn't make any effort, and the ball was easily confiscated by Neuer. .
You came and I attacked each other. The game was well watched, but no goals were scored.
Until the end of the first half, the sideline score was still 0:0.