The “Miracle of Milan”
Champions League quarter-finals, Tuesday evening, floodlights, Inter Milan versus Schalke 04 in front of 80,000 spectators. The favorite role is clearly divided in favor of the Italians and the reigning title holder, for the Royal Blues the appearance in the round of the remaining eight teams is another highlight after progressing against FC Valencia. What happened exactly 12 years ago on April 5, 2011 will probably stay in the memory of Schalke fans forever.
Schalke played against Inter in the “Miracle of Milan”.
At first there were no signs of a huge surprise in the legendary Giuseppe Meazza: Dejan Stanković scored a goal from the center line for Inter in the first minute and caused the first concern for the “Knappen” supporters. Joel Matip equalized to make it 1-1 in the 17th minute, but Diego Milito put the Nerazzurri back in front in the 34th minute.
Through their courageous style of play, a bit of luck in front of their own goal and great rip-off, the guests, under the direction of coach Ralf Rangnick, not only managed to find the right answer again, but also struck four times from minute 40 to 75. The Brazilian Edú with a brace, striker icon Raúl and Andrea Ranocchia with an own goal brought a 2:5 on the scoreboard. Cristian Chivu was sent off for Inter in the 62nd minute with yellow and red.
Schalke’s magical night at Inter: Matip incredulous – Rangnick’s offensive was rewarded
“First I have to understand what happened here,” said a dismayed Matip after the game, which went down in Schalke history as the “Miracle of Milan”. “We chose an offensive line-up before the game. And we did that consciously because we knew that we couldn’t just play defensively here,” explained coach Rangnick.
In the second leg, the “Knappen” left nothing to chance, won 2-1 and advanced to the semi-finals of the “premier class” against Manchester United. “Ralf Rangnick set the team up perfectly. It’s something historical,” said the then S04 manager Horst Heldt, who also emphasized the share of ex-coach sports director Felix Magath. Rangnick only took over the coaching position at Schalke a second time in March. But then it was the end of the line against the clearly superior “Red Devils” (0:2/1:4).
Note: This article comes from the TM archive and was first published on April 5th, 2020.
GOOOOOOOOOOOR for that #S04!
The important away goal for the Knappen! Corner Farfan, Papadopoulos headed wide to César but Matip swooped in from close range YES!
17′ | #InterS04 1:1 | #WondersOfMilanRelive pic.twitter.com/6lM4HlUa3U
— FC Schalke 04 () (@s04) April 5, 2020
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