At this point, Schalke has to hope their 1-0 deficit can hold through full-time, because although they recently crafted a good chance for Raúl, Valencia continues to generate scoring opportunities. In the 55th minute, it was a ball played across the top of the area, through Mehmet Topal, for Aritz Aduriz to the left of goal. The Valencia attacker tried to get his right foot around a ball targeting the far post but did not get it far enough away from Manuel Neuer. The score remained 1-0, Valencia.
The disturbing part for Schalke is the increased influence Valencia's midfield - Topal, Ever Banega, and Tino Costa - are having on this match. In the first half, those players were relatively quiet save Costa, who had a moment of danger in the middle of the period. In the second half, both Banega and Topal have been involved in chances, and in creating another flick on chance of Roberto Soldado, Jeremy Mathieu (who assisted on the only goal) continues to be influential down the right.
Where Schalke was able to be strong in the middle early in the match, now the are strong nowhere. Even as Jefferson Farfán finally takes advantage of Mathieu on Schalke's right, generating a headed chance for Raúl that was defended well by Ricardo Costa, you wonder if Felix Magath needs to shift gears, adjust to an approach that starts to account for Valencia's advantages, and take this match back to Gelsenkirchen down only a goal.
Approaching the hour mark, Schalke is fortunate to only be down 1-0.
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