Champions League Review: Schalke Soar, Bremen Blitzed

Farfan Has Been In Exceptional Form For Schalke.

With Bayern Munichs place in the round of sixteen booked despite their loss in Rome, the pressure was on the Bundesligas other two Champions League representatives to step up to the plate and deliver. Unfortunately, only one of those two sides managed to get the right result.

Schalke 3 0 Olympique Lyon

This is exactly what Felix Magath would have wanted from his side, especially after their 40 win over Werder Bremen on the weekend. Finally, Schalke are beginning to play the way they have been expected to play all season. Beni Howedes and Christoph Metzelder finally look solid at the back, theres depth in midfield with Joel Matip, Ciprian Deac and Christoph Moritz all doing their part, and up top theyre as cool as you like with Raul and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. They have a very impressive squad on paper, and now, finally, theyre beginning to deliver on the pitch. Another pile of goals and another clean sheet, and exactly the kind of togetherness and spirit Magath will want from his side. If they can maintain it, theres no reason why they wont be able to qualify for the Champions League again next season. Farfan opened the scoring, and a Huntelaar brace killed the tie off. Im very impressed! Schalke currently top their group thanks to a 30 shock result in Israel between Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Benfica, which means the German side have sealed qualification into the round of sixteen.

Tottenham Hotspur 3 0 Werder Bremen

Too easy for Tottenham, like I had predicted. With Werder Bremen suffering from a lack of confidence and a lack of first-team players due to a lengthy injury list, there was never any chance that they were going to leave London with three po! ints in the bag. Every time Tottenham attacked, Werder Bremen looked like they would concede. Really, if youre a Bundesliga neutral, you probably felt embarrassed for the display they put on at White Hart Lane. The Bundesliga, on average, is so much better than Werder Bremen. Can you imagine if Borussia Dortmund were at White Hart Lane last night? And another thing, Philipp Bargfrede? Absolutely clueless. Younes Kaboul and Luka Modric made it 20 before half-time and it was virtually all over by then. Felix Kroos, who got a rare start thanks to a monstrous injury list, stepped on Modrics ankle in the penalty area to concede a spot-kick, but Gareth Bales attempt was well saved by Tim Wiese. Peter Crouch made it 30 with ten minutes left. Werder Bremen are bottom of their group with just two points, three away from FC Twente and the Europa League. It looks like Schaafs side will make an early exit from European football altogether this season.

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