TEAM NEWS
Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick rested several players in their 1-0 home defeat to Kaiserslautern on Saturday. "We will have a different starting team against United," said Rangnick, who took over from sacked Felix Magath a month ago. "If I had chosen the same team on Tuesday that I did today I don't think we would have a big chance to win against Manchester." Peruvian Jefferson Farfan, who missed the quarter-final second leg against Inter, will be back in midfield while defenders Benedikt Hoewedes, Atsuto Uchida and Hans Sarpei should also return. Midfielder Jose Jurado, who came on as a substitute on Saturday, is also expected to start in Schalke's maiden Champions League semi-final appearance.
United beat Everton 1-0 on Saturday to close in on the Premier League title and Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney both played the full 90 minutes in scorching conditions after Dimitar Berbatov was ruled out with a groin problem having missed the previous game with a virus. It was hardly the ideal preparation for Tuesday's trip and, although Ferguson did rest Nemanja Vidic and Michael Carrick, substitutes Patrice Evra and Ryan Giggs were both forced into action as Everton proved a tough nut to crack. Nani and Antonio Valencia both played against Everton, the latter setting up the goal, but Alex Ferguson is likely to keep things tighter for the first leg with Nani probably the man to miss out for the midfield security provided by Carrick.
MATCH FACTS
Schalke are aiming to be the fourth German team to reach a Champions League final after Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen and the second in a row after Bayern last season.
Schalke, unbeaten in their last nine European games, a club record, have scored 10 goals in their last three but have not kept a clean sheet in any of the last five. They have won all five home games in the CL this season, scoring at least twice on each occasion.
Schalke have won only one of their last six games against English teams and have not scored in any of their last three. They lost at home to United's neighbours Manchester City 2-0 in the last such meeting in the UEFA Cup two seasons ago.
Schalke's Spanish striker Raul has netted five times in his first season with the German club after his long distinguished career with Real Madrid and has now increased his European and CL record to 71 goals in 140 games, more than one in every other match.
United are aiming to reach their third CL final in four seasons and could end up in a rematch of their 2009 clash with Barcelona, which they lost 2-0. They beat Chelsea on penalties the previous year.
United, beaten by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals last season, have won only seven of 19 CL games against German clubs though they have won four of the last five and six of the last eight. They have scored on each of their last eight visits to Germany though they have won only twice in those games.
Amazingly, United, unbeaten in their last 11 CL matches, have not conceded a single goal in any of their five CL away games this season. They have kept 13 clean sheets in their last 18 CL away matches.
United midfielders Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes have appeared in more CL games than any player other than Raul. Giggs has played in 124 and Scholes in 119 to Raul's record 140.
ODDS
Schalke 9/4 Draw 11/5 Manchester United 5/4
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