FCBARCELONA.CAT

30.03.2008 20:58

German view of Tuesday’s match

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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”.