Team News
For Schalke, things just do not get easier. Ibrahim Afellay, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Ciprian Marica and Lars Unnerstall are all injured. Midfielder Raffael, on loan from Dynamo Kiev, is ineligible.
On top of that, Klaas Jan Huntelaar picked up an injury in the Revierderby on Saturday which is set to keep him out for four weeks. Schalke’s hero of the first leg, Jermaine Jones, picked up a yellow card in Turkey, ruling him out of this one too.
For Galatasaray, Tomas Ujfalusi and Johan Elmandar are both out.
Analysis
For Schalke, it has been a long road back. Jens Keller seemed to be only a few days away from his sacking when Schalke started turning things around in February. On Saturday, they beat Dortmund in the mother of all German derbies, the Revierderby, for the second time this season. Schalke won 2-1 but lost Huntelaar to injury.
In Huntelaar and Ciprian Marica’s absence, Jens Keller might decide to switch to a system which incorporates a false nine as he had done in the Bundesliga when he had a striker crisis. He could also play young Teemu Pukki up front though.
Schalke has certainly improved but the injury and suspension problems could hurt them, especially that of Jermaine Jones. Marco Hoger and Roman Neustadter are similar to Jones but Jones brings an added fighting quality to the pitch. Schalke could have ended the tie in Turkey but did not do so. The tie stands on a knife edge at 1-1.
Also, they launched a complaint to FIFA concerning the eligibility of Didier Drogba. An angry Drogba is the last thing anyone would wish for. The legendary striker came on for Galatasaray in their previous match against Genclerbirligi and took a penalty. The Ivorian missed his kick though.
Whether Wesley Sneijder will play in this match is also up for debate. Schalke did emerge as the better side in the first leg tie. However, considering a history of inconsistency, the Royal Blues cannot be expected to wrap it up in the second leg without trouble. The Turkish side is disciplined and will certainly threaten the Gelsenkirchen side.
Previous Meetings
Galatasaray 1-1 Schalke (20th February 2013)
Previous Matches
Schalke 2-1 Dortmund (9th March 2013)
Wolfsburg 1-4 Schalke (2nd March 2013)
Schalke 2-1 Fortuna Düsseldorf (23rd February 2013)
Galatasaray 1-1 Schalke (20th February 2013)
Mainz 2-2 Schalke (16th February 2013)
Galatasaray 0-1 Genclerbirligi (8th March 2013)
Eskisehirspor 0-0 Galatasaray (2nd March 2013)
Galatasaray 4-2 Orduspor (25th February 2013)
Galatasaray 1-1 Schalke (20th February 2013)
A.B.G.V Spor 1-2 Galatasaray (15th February 2013)
Prediction
Schalke 2-1 Galatasaray
