Better than Barcelona and Schalke!
That‘s what the coach of 5th tier FC Düren of the Mittelrheinliga was hoping for before the 1st round tie of the DFB-Pokal against Bayern Munich on Wednesday evening. ”I want to concede fewer than eight goals, then we are better than Barcelona or Schalke“ said Guiseppe Brunetti referring to the heavy defeats suffered by Spanish side in the Champions League in August and by Schalke on opening day. Well he got his way as his team lost by only 3-0, in what was a routine performance by the European champions, who gave five players their debut and only fielded four of their core squad. Choupo-Moting, once of Stoke City and newly arrived from PSG scored either side of Thomas Muller and the result was never in doubt. With 72% possession, nearly three times as many completed passes, 21 shots and a corner ratio of 10:1, FCB never looked likely to succumb to what would have been the greatest cup upset of all time, even with a weakened team. However the visitors performed creditably and can go back to action in their division, where they have made a great start with three wins out of three, with their heads held high. Even if claiming to be better than Barcelona may be a bit far fetched...not Schalke though, everyone is better than Schalke...