While Manchester United faced the crucial Manchester derby in the decisive stage of the UCL...
Schalke 04 found themselves in a far more comfortable situation.
The twenty-ninth round of the league.
Schalke 04 confronted Werder Bremen, who had slipped to eighth place in the standings.
With no remaining ambitions in the league campaign, Werder Bremen were experiencing their lowest point of the season.
Devastating injuries to their starting lineup had completely shattered their hopes of qualifying for the Europa League.
Against the league-leading Schalke 04...
The depleted Bremen side posed no meaningful threat.
Just eight minutes into the match...
Su delivered an exquisite curved pass down the right flank, the ball arcing over all Bremen defenders to find the charging Vardy in perfect position.
Vardy powered a forceful header past the Bremen goalkeeper into the net.
1:0!
As Vardy erupted in passionate celebration...
Veltins-Arena immediately roared to life.
Since securing a draw against the mighty Barcelona...
Schalke 04 supporters had completely abandoned any restraint.
Many fans were already inquiring about travel packages to Wembley Stadium for the Champions League final.
Faced with Schalke 04's relentless onslaught...
Conceding the early goal appeared to crush Werder Bremen's fighting spirit entirely.
They retreated deep into their own half, adopting a defensive counterattack strategy.
Yet Schalke 04's players seemed fundamentally transformed since their Barcelona showdown.
Hao launched into his signature marauding runs down the right wing.
The naturally gifted dribbler played with complete freedom now.
Even when confronted by double-marking Bremen defenders...
Hao sliced through the duo with a slick heel-turn maneuver.
Bursting into the penalty area, he delivered a precise inverted-triangle pass to Su cutting in from central position.
A clinical finish!
The ball ripped into the bottom corner.
The Chinese connection strikes again!
2:0!
Not even thirty minutes into the match...
Schalke 04 already held a commanding 2-0 lead over their demoralized opponents.
Hao leapt onto Su's back in exuberant celebration.
But Schalke 04's spectacle was far from concluded.
Just as the first half was drawing to a close,
Uchida Atsuto scored!
Another right-wing attack!
After a series of two-on-one combinations between Su and Hao, Su cleverly switched play to the right flank when confronted by the out-of-position Bremen center-back.
Uchida Atsuto, charging forward from deep in his own half, met the ball with a thunderous strike!
The shot flashed like lightning into the Bremen net for the third time.
3:0!
Tears of joy streamed down Uchida Atsuto's face after the goal.
The humiliation he suffered from Pedro at Camp Nou had been eroding his confidence.
That last-minute red card was a nightmare!
During this period, he stubbornly refused to yield.
Uchida marched straight to Su, half-kneeling and gesturing for Su to place his foot on his knee.
A shoe-shining celebration!
Uchida's antics sent the stadium into raptures again!
"Su!"
"Su!"
...
The referee blew the halftime whistle amid the deafening Su chants.
During the interval, Magath immediately substituted Su with Boujellab.
Vardy and Hao were also taken off together!
Boujellab adopted a cautious approach after coming on.
Su's presence had finally made Boujellab understand something:
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Sometimes stubbornness isn't necessarily virtuous.
He'd learned to compromise when necessary.
After adjusting his habitual hesitation before passing, Boujellab's performance steadily improved.
Following 45 minutes of disjointed attacking in the second half,
Boujellab successfully maintained Schalke 04's 3:0 lead established under Su's leadership!
With all three points secured, Schalke 04 remained atop the table.
However, Bayern Munich still lurked closely behind them.
But currently, Schalke 04 couldn't afford to focus on Bayern.
For one simple reason:
The Champions League knockout second leg was approaching.
......
Meanwhile, in distant England,
Manchester!
Old Trafford reverberated with Manchester United fans chanting Rooney's name!
At this moment, the stocky striker stood triumphantly before Manchester City's goal.
He spread his arms majestically, basking in the adulation from the stands!
And on the sidelines...
The brutal 5-1 scoreline on the board brought tears to the away fans clad in blue jerseys.
They were being slaughtered!
All because they'd been reduced to ten men just twenty minutes into the first half.
Mario Balotelli!
The same Super Mario who had boasted to the media about leading Manchester City to a bloody victory over Manchester United received his third red card of the season within twenty minutes.
The incident occurred after persistent provocation.
The great Super Mario found himself constantly harassed by that damned Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung!
Most infuriating was how this pocket-sized dynamo stuck to him like glue - whenever Balotelli received the ball, Park would instantly close him down. Though unable to dispossess him directly...
The Korean kept muttering incomprehensible taunts - "Ssibal-ssibal" - while aggressively jostling him!
Super Mario endured it twice. But by the third provocation, he snapped!
He threw an elbow at Park, who was still rubbing against him like sandpaper!
The referee immediately halted play and brandished a yellow card.
On the touchline, Mancini panicked upon seeing Balotelli's reaction and urgently instructed David Silva to warm up as replacement.
But he underestimated Super Mario's temper.
Upon seeing the yellow card, Balotelli turned on the referee with a verbal tirade:
"Are you blind? He's clinging to me like a fucking tampon! I'm getting kicked and you card me? Are you fucking serious?"
Super Mario flashed his trademark toothy grin as the referee tucked the yellow card away.
For a moment, it seemed his outburst had worked - the official appeared to relent.
Until the referee suddenly produced a red card instead!
An enraged Balotelli attempted to argue further, but Yaya Touré rushed in to drag his teammate away before further damage was done.
On the sidelines...
Ferguson kept chewing his gum mechanically, though the twitching at the corner of his mouth betrayed his suppressed delight.
Across the technical area...
Mancini simply buried his face in his hands and slumped onto the City bench.
A full-strength Manchester United...
At Old Trafford...
What followed was inevitable.
A massacre unfolded.
Wayne Rooney broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute!
Meeting Park Ji-Sung's cross, he hammered home from the edge of the box.
From then on...
United grew increasingly dominant.
The numerically disadvantaged Citizens could only retreat deeper into their own half.
Yet even their packed defense couldn't withstand United's relentless onslaught.
In the 41st minute...
United constructed a beautiful left-wing move.
Veteran Ryan Giggs received Scholes' diagonal pass before darting into the box!
A crisp finish!
The ball arrowed into City's net!
2:0!
