30.03.2008 20:58
German view of Tuesday’s match
www.fcbarcelona.cat
Kuranyi and Rafinha, two of the Schalke 04 stars, spoke about the forthcoming Champions League quarter final with Barça. They both agreed that Barça are the favourites, but that it is anything but a done deal.
On paper, Schalke and FC Barcelona are in very different situations. Barça won the Champions League
two years ago and are a side many people fancy to repeat that success this year. Meanwhile, Schalke
04 are very much the underdog, having made it into the last eight in a penalty shootout against
Porto. The Bundesliga outfit knows it is a big ask to knock out Barcelona, but Kuranyi and Rafinha
told Barça TV that they are confident they have a good chance of doing just that.
Barça, a difficult opponent
Kuranyi, Schalke 04’s top scorer in Europe with three goals, is not counting out the
possibility of his team being surprise semi finalists. “Everybody knows that Barça is the
best or one of the best teams in the world, and it will be a very hard game for us. If we want to
qualify we will have to give it everything we can and play to the limit.”
Options for Schalke 04
Brazilian full back Rafinha spoke along similar
lines, saying “I think Schalke 04 are very well prepared for this tie and we are just as much
the favourites. We have made it to the quarter finals and if we are here it is because we have the
chance to win and because we are working really hard.” Rafinha has scored once in Europe this
season, against Rosenberg, and feels the two teams will be a able to conjure up “a good
game” because they are both “preparing valiantly”.
The Barça players
Both agree that there is a plethora of talent in the FC Barcelona squad. “Barça always
look to sign the best players in the world”, explained Kuranyi. “They have lots of
players and they are all very good. So you can’t single out any one player. What Barça have
is a very good all-round team”, continued Rafinha, who said “it has always been my
dream to play Barça”.
Keys to the game
Kuranyi said the Barcelona players “have a lot of skill and play phenomenal
football” and so for the Germans to win “we will have to stop them from playing their
game”. Along similar lines, Rafinha added that “Barça have no one aspect that demands
attention, we have to be alert to anything that might happen and to what all their players are
doing, because they can create down the wings or down the middle. They are very dangerous”.