Gelsenkirchen: Schalke completed a surprising rout of title holder Inter Milan, winning 2-1 on Wednesday to reach its first Champions League semifinal.
Schalke advanced 7-3 on aggregate and will play Manchester United in the semifinals, with the first leg at home on April 26.
With Schalke holding a massive advantage following its 5-2 trouncing of Inter in Milan last week, Raul Gonzalez all but sealed the club’s passage into the semis when he scored in the 44th minute. Thiago Motta equalized for Inter in the 49th, but Benedikt Hoewedes scored the winner in the 81st for the surprising German side.
Inter had most of the possession and seven corners but could not translate the momentum into more chances or goals in the first half.
Schalke was happy to sit back and wait for Inter’s mistakes and it was just such a situation that led to the first goal. Jose Manuel Jurado slipped the ball through a huge opening in Inter’s defense and Raul easily rounded Julio Cesar to slot home, raising his Champions League record tally to 71 goals.
Coach Leonardo inserted striker Goran Pandev for Dejan Stankovic at the start of the second half and Inter replied four minutes later, after another corner. Lucio headed down the ball to the far post and Thiago Motta slotted it home.
Wesley Sneijder nearly scored for Inter in the 75th, but curled his free kick just wide.
Schalke used another counterattack to get the winner, with Raul sending a long ball behind Inter’s defense for defender Howedes to drive past Julio Cesar.
Schalke has had success against Inter before, beating the Italian side in 1997 to lift the UEFA Cup, its last title. The next year, it was eliminated by Inter in the quarterfinals of the same competition.
Facing an almost impossible task of having to win by four goals away from home, Inter tried to get into the match quickly and Sneijder sent a shot from 20 meters (yards) in the fifth minute that was easily mastered by Manuel Neuer.
Sneijder caught Neuer on the wrong foot in the 13th but shot wide.
Raul got off a clean header in the 17th but Julio Cesar was well placed to catch the ball.
Stankovic, who scored a spectacular goal in the first leg, tested Neuer again from more than 20 meters but the Schalke goalkeeper punched the shot away.
Stankovic then found Maicon at the far post from a set-piece but the Brazil defender failed to connect, wasting a good opening.
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