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Maribor
Champions League | Group Stage
Dec 10, 2014 at 7.45pm UK
 
Schalke

0-1

FT(HT: 0-0)
Meyer (62')

Player Ratings: Maribor 0-1 Schalke 04

Sports Mole sorts the heroes from the villains in Schalke 04's 1-0 win away to Maribor to move into the last 16 of the Champions League.

Schalke 04 have moved into the last 16 of the Champions League with a 1-0 win over Maribor in Slovenia tonight.

Roberto Di Matteo's side went into their final Group G game knowing that they must win and hope group winners Chelsea beat Sporting Lisbon.

The Blues' 3-1 win over the Portuguese side opened the door for Schalke, who obliged as Max Meyer fired the only goal of the game to seal their progression.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look at how the players fared individually.

Schalke's midfielder Max Meyer (L) celebrates with defender Christian Fuchs (R) after scoring a goal during the UEFA Champions League Group G football match against NK Maribor on December 10, 2014© Getty Images



MARIBOR

Goal

Jasmin Handanovic: Won the plaudits for a fine performance against Chelsea last month, but he was culpable for the first goal tonight by punching the ball straight to Meyer, who tapped home the opener. Untested overall, but that was a big error. (4/10)

Defence

Petar Stojanovic: Struggled big time with containing the likes of Choupo-Moting and Fuchs throughout. Substituted on 76 minutes through injury. (5/10)

Aleksander Rajcevic: Comfortably Maribor's best defender on the night and probably in their entire Champions League campaign. Produced one or two crucial interceptions to cut out low crosses from Fuchs. (7/10)

Arghus: Slightly clumsy throughout the game and slipped to allow Huntelaar a free sight of goal in the first half. Also gave Meyer far too much space for the first and killer goal. (4/10)

Mitja Viler: The left-back was slightly suspect at times and allowed himself to be turned far too easily in the build-up to what was Schalke's best chance of the first half. Fortunately for him Huntelaar fluffed his lines. (4/10)

Midfield

Ales Mertelj: Spent the entire game on the periphery more or less and gave very little to the cause. (4/10)

Sintayehu Sallalich: The jet-heeled winger was not in the game as often as he should have been because his electric pace was causing problems. He looked tidy on the ball, too, and was comfortably one of Maribor's better players, though his end product was lacking slightly. (6/10)

Zeljko Filipovic: Guilty of going for goal from distance on a few occasions when there were better options available. Decent off the ball, however. (6/10)

Agim Ibrahimi: Cut a frustrated figure at times with the equally ineffective Tavares. He was never going to score tonight. (4/10)

Damjan Bohar: Very promising in the first half and at times in the second half, but his flair was ultimately negated by Schalke. Scored against them in Gelsenkirchen but he did not have a sniff here tonight. (5/10)

Attack

Tavares: Maribor's centre-forward but he dropped far too deep to collect possession throughout the game, leaving the wingers with no focal point to search for when they bombed forward. Industrious as ever, but was too far adrift of the action most of the time. (4/10)

Substitutes

Dare Vrsic: Missed a half-chance to equalise by dragging a left-footed shot wide from a good position late on. Some woeful set-piece deliveries, too. (4/10)

Jean Philippe Mendy: Nowhere near as lively as Sallalich, whom he replaced on 65 minutes. (4/10)

Luka Zahovic: Maribor's top goalscorer this season but only handed an eight-minute cameo. Deserved more. (5/10)



SCHALKE 04

Goal

Ralf Fahrmann: Very little to do in both halves but did not put a foot wrong with the few shots he had to keep out. (6/10)

Defence

Roman Neustadter: Forced to play in defence due to Schalke's growing injury list, but the midfielder did not look out of place in the unfamiliar position. (6/10)

Jan Kirchhoff: Did very little wrong in Schalke's three-man defence, helping Neustadter shackle Ibraimi throughout. (6/10)

Benedikt Howedes: Had Tavares's number throughout and took a no-nonsense approach to combating the hefty Brazilian. Good performance. (7/10)

Midfield

Atsuto Uchida: Looked a real menace going forward from as the right wing-back, and produced two goal-saving blocks in quick succession to deny Arghus and Tavares in the first half. Very good overall. (7/10)

Christian Fuchs: Uchida's equivalent on the left, Fuchs bombed forward very well, giving Stojanovic all sorts of problems, but his end product could have been better. (6/10)

Dennis Aogo: Anchored the midfield well at times but was not a good link between defence and attack, often playing the ball straight out of play. (5/10)

Marco Hoger: Got more involved as the minutes ticked on and emerged from the game as one of Schalke's better forward players. (7/10)

Tranquillo Barnetta: Schalke's only goal threat in the opening stages after having two rather tame shots. Also swung in a few decent crosses but overall he was never all that effective and was substituted on 56 minutes. (5/10)

Attack

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting: Quiet first half but came to life far more after the restart, with his combination of pace and skill troubling Maribor defenders regularly. (6/10)

Klaas Jan Huntelaar: Very disappointing from a striker of his calibre. Selfish in the first half by going for goal instead of squaring to Choupo-Moting, while later on hit the post with a shot that he should have scored with. Largely anonymous. (4/10)

Substitutes

Max Meyer: Replaced Barnetta on 56 minutes and turned the game on its head as he swiftly opened the scoring and looked far more of a menace than his predecessor. Brilliant impact. (7/10)

Kan Ayhan: Only had a two-minute cameo. (6/10)


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Schalke's Italian head coach Roberto Di Matteo attends a training session at the arena in Gelsenkirchen, western Germany on October 20, 2014
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