After the Champions League group stage draw was made, nobody could have imagined all the big teams in Group B, Schalke, Benfica and Lyon, would be in deep crisis come in mid-September. It looks like they are cursed, and this weekend all of them are facing huge games against historic rivals, with absolutely no room for football jersey
error.
Schalke are hosting ambitious Borussia Dortmund for the boiling hot Ruhr derby on Sunday. They have no points in the Bundeslinga, and lost at Lyon 1-0 in the Champions League opener. For many that is a huge surprise, but their troubles are actually very easy to explain. Felix Magath’s summer transfer campaign has been nothing short of a disaster, with all plans going astray and numerous players hastily arriving in the last seconds of the transfer window.
There are many debates on the departure of Kevin Kuranyi for the money of Dinamo Moscow, but his replacements, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, and to a lesser extent Raul, are actually pretty decent. Other departures, namely Rafinha and Heiko Westermann, were much more significant. Rafinha’s exit was very much expected after his rift with the board, but Magath didn’t find an appropriate solution.
In fact, Schalke amazingly used four different right-backs in their first four games this season. It started with Joel Matip in a defeat at Hamburg, and the Cameroonian was very poor, replaced by newly-signed Atsuto Uchida after an hour.
The inexperienced Japanese got the nod from Magath for the home clash with Hannover, but it only got worse. Uchida himself was substituted, while Matip was terrible at centre-back, as Schalke lost again. A week later, Magath bizarrely opted for Christoph Metzelder at right-back against speedy Hoffenheim, with disastrous results.
The dreadful former national team defender had to be replaced at half-time, as Schalke were slaughtered. Finally, Magath switched young midfielder Christoph Moritz to the problematic position, and duly got his reward – Moritz was the player who gifted the French side the winning goal.
A coach with less prestige than Magath would have been rightfully sacked just on the basis of this farce alone, but that’s not the end of it - one must say that Westermann’s sale was the biggest mistake of them all. The man who missed out on a place in Jogi Loew’s World Cup squad only because of Chicago Bears jersey
injury, is an extremely reliable defensive all-rounder.
He can play left, right and centre, and even be used as a holding midfielder. And he is a born leader to boot – that’s why Hamburg immediately promoted him to captain. While sorry Matip, Metzelder, Uchida and dreadfully average signing like Hans Sarpei, struggle, it is Westermann who is sorely missed.
A failure to replace him is another good reason to fire Magath, and we didn’t even start talking about lack of a decent playmaker (unless Ciprian Deac turns out to be one).
The derby against Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund, who are almost choking with youthful self-confidence at the moment, is crucial for Magath. Interesting to see who plays right-back this time. Why not try Raul there, as he doesn’t get any balls in the attack anyway?
Benfica are facing a hot derby against Sporting, and their misfortune is more surprising. The Portuguese champions have lost three league games out of four this season, after falling to just two losses during entire 2009-10 campaign.
Coach Jorge Jesus can blame it on the departure of two influential stars, Angel Di Maria to Real Madrid and Ramires to Chelsea, but the biggest problem is in goal. The Eagles wasted €8.5 million on a 24-year-old Spaniard Roberto, who has absolutely no first team experience, and are suffering as a result.
Worse still, the fans are not very supportive either. The players who won the title in such style just a few months ago are being unceremoniously whistled. Oscar Cardozo, the Paraguayan striker who became an idol at Estadio da Luz with 38 goals last season, was so outraged at the fans behaviour that he attempted to silence them after scoring in a 2-0 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Champions League. Even such a performance against the Israeli champions wasn’t enough for the supporters. If Benfica fail in a huge derby versus Sporting, Jesus’ reign will be in a grave danger.
Self-belief is a problem at Benfica, but even more so at Lyon who travel to Bordeaux, knowing they must not lose. The richest club in France are in 16th place, with just one win and four goals scored to report from their first five league games. Winning against pathetic Schalke in the Champions League is nice, but coach Claude Puel knows he must deliver the league title that eluded him in his first two seasons at Jean-Michel Aulas’ team.
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Puel’s Lyon is that in the previous seasons they started brilliantly, only to fade later in the season. His first season began with six wins out of seven, and the second started with six wins out of eight.
This time, Les Gones are yet to get an away point, having lost at mediocre Caen and Lorient, and if they lose again at Bordeaux, where Jean Tigana isn’t experiencing the best start to his new career either, Puel might be on his way. After all, his biggest achievement is qualifying to the Champions League semi-finals, while beating the very same Bordeaux in the process. If he can’t do that again, what’s the point of giving him more credit?
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