A hard school

Exiting the Champions League after a 6-1 aggregate mauling by Manchester United may not seem like the optimal time for a club to begin searching for positives. After upstarts Schalke were dealt a lesson by the massively experienced Manchester United, they will be wondering how they got it so wrong over the two legs of the semi-final.

After gloriously over-achieving to reach the last four, Ralf Rangnick's side were given a European education in how to dominate matches by the three-time European Cup winners who swamped them at home in Gelsenkirchen and clinically hit them time after time on the break at Old Trafford.

With their dream in tatters, Schalke now face the harsh reality of going through the motions in the remaining two league games of the season. (With their hopes of qualification for next season's European competitions riding solely on their fate in the German Cup final in Berlin on May 21, perhaps going through the motions is an appropriate course of action.)

While all may seem dark and pointless on the next two weekends, once the off-season comes - whether it ends with confetti at the Olympiastadion or not - Schalke should do well to look at their achievements in Europe and draw no little amount of hope for the season to come.

The Champions League has been a hard school this year, but the lessons learned - and the many tests they did pass - should stand Schalke in good stead as they bid to climb back up the Bundesliga next season.

Attacking prowess, defensive stability

Schalke began as shakily in Europe as they did in the Bundesliga with 1-0 defeat in France against Olympique Lyon. But this was to be their only defeat in a group stage they won with flying colors. Schalke showed a willingness to attack the opposition which was strangely lacking in their domestic approach. The lapses in concentration that so plagued their Bundesliga campaign were notably absent as well.

Less spectacular but probably more important than any of the group stage victories was the 1-1 draw they earned at Valencia in the round of 16. With their league form still firmly in the doldrums, Schalke not only snatched a vital away goal but their defense was stern enough to keep a fluid and attacking Valencia side at bay. Their 2-1 win back in Gelsenkirchen clinched the quarter-final place but it holding the fort in Spain that put them through.

All these results, it has to be said, came under the regime of former coach Felix Magath. It would later be revealed that the Schalke team at this time was unhappy, lacking in confidence, and drifting further away from its authoritarian boss. While it would be wrong to dismiss Magath's influence and experience in getting the results that booked the Royal Blues a quarter-final spot with Inter Milan, the highlight of the campaign to come was constructed by a different architect.

Change of atmosphere and tactics

Ralf Rangnick had only coached Schalke in a single game when he took his new team to the San Siro but the shape, tactics and desire of the team was in stark contrast to those seen in Magath's last few games.

In came Hans Sarpei and Alexander Baumjohann, two players ostracized by Magath and made to play for the reserves, while Brazilian striker Edu was restored by Rangnick to a central role from Magath's preferred position for him on the wing. All three players shined on the night, as Schalke’s plan to exploit the space afforded by Inter’s inability to transition from attacking to defending worked to perfection. Edu scored two goals in an astonishing 5-2 rout, and the 2-1 win that followed a week later might have been less rousing, but it also proved the change in approach was no fluke.

Rangnick's decisions were not only taken with the beating of Inter Milan in mind but also with a nod to the future of Schalke, says Jonas Keinert, a Bundesliga correspondent who covered Rangnick at Hoffenheim for the Rhein-Neckar Zeitung daily.

"Bringing players like Sarpei and Baumjohann back into the team and giving others like Julian Draxler and Benedikt Höwedes European experience against some of the best teams in the world will pay dividends for Schalke for years to come," Keinert told Deutsche Welle. "These are players Rangnick likes, and they are going to be the skeleton of his team for the coming season."

"Jurado has shown signs of his potential since Rangnick's appointment as coach, and he really could have a good career at Schalke if he can make the next step and play consistently," said Whitney.

"Young players like Papadopoulos and Draxler also have potential, although next year may still be a bit early for Draxler, though; he won't be 18 until the end of September. They also have a very talented playmaker, Lewis Holtby, returning from loan at Mainz. He's still a bit raw, but at 20 years of age, has a lot of untapped potential."

While Rangnick enjoyed great success against Inter with his more tactically daring and offensive approach, it failed to pay off against Manchester United, a team more experienced in the intense back and forth of the English Premiership that Rangnick was trying to replicate.

Schalke's pressing and live-wire attack may have overwhelmed and stifled the poorly coached Serie A champions Inter, a team more comfortable playing a possession game, but against United, Schalke met a team who have been playing the style Rangnick favors for years. The Anglophile Rangnick may have thought that fighting fire with fire was the best option but he underestimated United's expertise.

Weaknesses exposed

However, even in this defeat, Rangnick and Schalke will have learned some lessons which can help them in the Bundesliga next season.

"The way Schalke played against United will be the system the team plays in the future," Keinert said. "It resembled Hoffenheim's 4-3-3 formation, which Rangnick played there for four years with great success. I expect Schalke to play that way next season. It will have greater success against German teams."

Keinert also believes that the defeat to United will have shown Rangnick where he needs to strengthen his squad if Schalke are to enjoy a revival in the Bundesliga by attacking their rivals from front to back, with everyone employed with two-way capabilities in mind.

"Rangnick counts on young, fast and technically excellent players like Draxler and Farfan but he urgently needs two players like this for the left and right wing-back positions in defense," he said.

"Neither Escudero nor Uchida link the defense and attack to the standards that Rangnick expects. Schalke still lacks quality there and with the emphasis being on attack-minded defenders in his formation, Rangnick will probably look to buy players for these roles."

If his Schalke can take down Duisburg in the German Cup final - and thus earn the guaranteed money of European competition - he should have the money to do so too.

Author: Nick Amies
Editor: Matt Hermann