Five years ago to the day, Schalke played its last Champions League match to date. It ended badly. Do you still know?

In Bundesliga 2, FC Schalke 04 has stabilized somewhat after a difficult few weeks. This Tuesday, the Royal Blues began preparations for the away game at Hertha BSC, in which they want to take another step towards staying in the league.

The situation was completely different five years ago to the day. That was the last time the players in S04 kit heard the Champions League anthem on the pitch. But none of them were happy about it on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. Still white?

Because the round of 16 second leg at Manchester City ended in a major debacle. As group runners-up, Schalke advanced to the knockout phase, where they faced Manchester City. After a respectable performance at home in the first leg – Domenico Tedesco’s team lost 3:2 after leading 2:1 until the 85th minute – there were still faint hopes of progressing.

And the S04 defense kept these hopes alive with a concentrated performance in the first 35 minutes. Then City were awarded a dubious penalty. Sergio Aguero converted – and Schalke were to fall apart completely in the minutes that followed.

Ex-talent Sané excels against Schalke

At half-time, the score was already 0:3 and in the end it was 0:7, the highest defeat of a German team in the Champions League. A severe humiliation for the Revierklub, to which home-grown talent Leroy Sané, of all people, played a huge part. As in the first leg, he scored against his former club, and the best man on the pitch set up three more goals.

After the game, coach Tedesco spoke of the “biggest drop in tension I’ve experienced since I’ve been a coach” with regard to the second half. And sporting director Jochen Schneider said: “We can’t go back to business as usual after the game.”

Tedesco must leave Schalke after debacle

And indeed, the performance in Manchester was to have far-reaching consequences. Tedesco, who was already in a bad way due to a week-long winless streak in the Bundesliga, had to leave two days after the debacle. However, interim coach Huub Stevens was unable to initiate a turnaround.

And since Schalke’s development has been on a steady downward trend since then, with a small interim high in the following season, the bitter night in Manchester will be Schalke’s last in the Champions League for the foreseeable future