Schalke’s David v Goliath test of character

SCHALKE’S status in Germany is hard to define but there is no denying that even as one of the biggest clubs in one of Europe’s most prosperous nations, they are still dwarfed by the resources of Manchester City.

Nonetheless Schalke will hope to raise their game enough in today’s Champions League last 16 first leg in Gelsenkirchen to keep the tie alive for the Manchester return.

“We are facing one of the best teams in the whole of Europe,” Schalke defender Matija Nastasic told the club website. “City basically don’t have any weaknesses. They score lots of goals, are technically amazing, press effectively, and have great players in every position.”

Nastasic, 25, joined Schalke from City in January 2015 so has a better idea than most of just how formidable City can be.

“We won’t let ourselves be beaten before kick-off,” he said. “Obviously it’s not going to be easy and we know we will go in as the underdogs.

“Despite that, we still have a chance. With our fans behind us, we will give everything we’ve got.”

In a different era Schalke and City would have been comparable teams – perennial underachievers from industrial cities. But while Schalke must make do with hard luck stories and the occasional cup success, City are English champions and consistent challengers.

Schalke pack their Gelsenkirchen arena with 60,000 fans most weeks and have lucrative sponsorship, but even that is not enough to put them on anything close to equal financial footing with the TV riches of the Premier League and external investors, prohibited by German rules, such as City’s backers from the UAE royal family.

On the field, Schalke impressed in coach Domenico Tedesco’s debut season to finish second in 2018 but this term has been harder, languishing 14th in the Bundsliga.

That bodes ill in facing a Pep Guardiola’s City side leading the Premier League, albeit having played a game more than Liverpool, and still chasing four titles. “The football they play is sometimes incredible,” said Nastasic. “There’s barely a team that is as good as them,”