christoph metzelder is eager to get fc schalke 04 out of "the mess" they are in in the bundesliga but first he aims to maintain their winning run in group b at hapoel tel-aviv fc.
the uefa champions league must provide a welcome distraction at the moment for an fc schalke 04 side enduring a miserable time of it in germany.
felix magath's team lie second bottom of the bundesliga after a 1-0 home loss to bayer 04 leverkusen on saturday, which was their eighth defeat in 16 fixtures in all competitions – as many as they suffered in the whole of last term. yet, as defender christoph metzelder acknowledges, in the uefa champions league, they are already eyeing progress to the last 16 as they seek to build on home wins over sl benfica and hapoel tel-aviv fc, their opponents again back in tel-aviv on tuesday.
"the champions league is different," said the german international. "i know we haven't shone in the league but in the champions league we can see a route to the next stage of the competition." perhaps because of schalke's own domestic plight, though, metzelder knows better than to underestimate the threat that hapoel, bottom of group b, could pose.
schalke beat them 3-1 in gelsenkirchen on matchday 3 but metzelder warned: "i think hapoel are a good team who just happened to get us on a good day for our forwards. we have to be careful and give the best we can here, because hapoel can still produce a good game and we don't want them getting their first points at our expense. we take each game very seriously and we want to come away from here with all three points."
hapoel could end the night eliminated but striker toto tarmuz, scorer of two goals in their 3-2 weekend win over hapoel beer-sheva fc, said they had to be "more efficient and stronger than before". metzelder has the same hope for himself, reflecting on his poor start to life with schalke, whom he joined last summer from real madrid cf.
"it's true i started the season poorly but i feel i am improving now," said the centre-half, who turns 30 on friday. "i had a great time at real and i also enjoy schalke," he added. "the training and approach are very different from one team to the other, but i get on very well with felix [magath] and also with the whole team. we hope that together we can pull ourselves from the mess that we've got stuck in in the league."
the german side stayed second in group b despite dropping points with the draw not enough for the hosts to keep their knockout stage hopes alive.
fc schalke 04 were forced to settle for a point as hapoel tel-aviv fc finally got off the mark in the uefa champions league group b, although the result means the israeli titleholders cannot qualify for the knockout stages.
the german team had the better of the teams' first meeting a fortnight ago, running out 3-1 winners, yet they were largely kept on the back foot in tel aviv, often playing with ten men behind the ball in the second period. hapoel were unable to supply the finishing touch in the final third, however, and remain bottom of the section ahead of sl benfica's visit on matchday 5 when second-placed schalke – now only a point ahead of their portuguese rivals – welcome olympique lyonnais.
the home side had lost their first three games and were missing striker etey shechter and avihay yadin due to injury, yet started confidently. ben sahar and toto tamuz both posed plenty of problems for the schalke rearguard in the opening half-hour, their pace and power unsettling benedikt höwedes and christoph metzelder and keeping visiting goalkeeper manuel neuer on his toes.
clear chances were few, however, the hapoel forwards regularly losing their composure once they got into the penalty area. both eran zahavi and tamuz failed to beat neuer when well placed, although the goalkeeper was in top form; the germany no1's best stop came midway through the second period when he dived to his left to palm away a header from substitute yossi shivhon.
at the other end schalke were struggling to make much impression on the home defence. raúl gonzález – who scored twice in gelsenkirchen on matchday 3 – dropped increasingly deeper in search of possession, while the clever promptings of josé manuel jurado came to nothing.
sensing an opportunity, the home fans urged hapoel forward in search of victory and shivhon almost made the decisive intervention 13 minutes from time. the replacement picked up possession 25 metres out and ran incisively at the heart of schalke's defence, skipping past three challenges only to drag his low shot wide of neuer's right-hand post.
the away team were keeping all bar klaas-jan huntelaar behind the ball by this point, although they still might have snatched victory from two late corners. first metzelder volleyed into the schalke fans behind vincent enyeama's goal before edu headed wide; walid badier then did likewise for hapoel to ensure the match finished scoreless.
yardımcı hakemler: peter hermans (bel), walter vromans (bel)
4. hakem: johan verbist (bel)
çizgi hakemleri: christof virant (bel), jean-baptist bultynck (bel)
h. tel-aviv: vincent enyeama (gk), douglas da silva (dk. 42 bevan fransman), dani bondarv, walid badier (c), ben sahar (dk. 70 victor mare), gil vermouth, salim toama (dk. 61 yossi shivhon), eran zahavi, shay abutbul, dedi ben-dayan, toto tamuz
yedekler: galil ben-shanan (gk), omri kende, yehuda huta, gal shish
teknik direktör: eli gutman (isr)
schalke: manuel neuer (gk) (c), sergio escudero, benedikt höwedes, raúl gonzález, ivan rakitić (dk. 74 edu), peer kluge (dk. 46 christoph moritz), jefferson farfán (dk. 81 ciprian deac), josé manuel jurado, christoph metzelder, atsuto uchida, klaas-jan huntelaar
yedekler: lars unnerstall (gk), nicolas plestan, mario gavranović, joel matip
teknik direktör: felix magath (ger)
sarı kartlar: dk. 5 eran zahavi, dk. 39 walid badier (c) (h. tel-aviv) dk. 23 ivan rakitić, dk. 30 josé manuel jurado, dk. 36 klaas-jan huntelaar, dk. 51 benedikt höwedes (schalke)
