Schalke had to settle for an embarrassing 1-1 draw at home against Cypriot side APOEL Nicosia. The 2nd leg in Germany was basically a formality after Schalke had won the first leg with a comfortable 1-1 score away at Cyprus. The hosts clearly took this match not really serious and got punished when the brave visitors took a half-time lead through an early goal from Pinto. Schalke came level early in the 2nd half through a free kick from Pander which was enough for them to enter the group stage although the result left the home fans very unhappy.

Schalke coach Rutten had made no less than 5 changes to the team that lost 1-0 away at Koln in the Bundesliga as Neuer, Ernst, Hoewedes, Altintop and Asamoah replaced Faehrmann, Krstajic, Jones, Westermann and Farfan. APOEL coach Jovanovic also made several changes compared to the team that suffered the 1-4 home defeat 2 weeks ago as Chiotis, Ilia, Michail and Onwuachi replaced Morfils, Poursaiditis, Haxhi and Zewlakow.

In front of a large crowd of 50.000 fans Schalke got surprised after 6 minutes already when a poor pass from Kuranyi got intercepted and Kosowski delivered a fine assist to Helio Pinto who gave the visitors a stunning lead. Schalke took a while before they responded with some angry attacks, but efforts from Kuranyi, Rakitic and Hoewedes all failed to hit target as the visitors took a surprising 1 goal lead into the break.

Schalke took command at the start of the 2nd half, but found it surprisingly tough to create really strong chances. In this light a set piece brought relief when Pander hit target with a fine direct free kick from 25 meters distance that beat goalkeeper Chiotis. Who would have thought that this goal would unleash a storm on the visitors goal was wrong as Schalke obviously dominated , but clearly looked uninspired which started to frustrate the large crowd. In this light the hosts did their fans no favor as they failed to create any strong chances after the equalizer and settled for a 1-1 draw.

The 1-1 draw was a deserved result for a brave APOEL Nicosia side and will probably go into their books as one of the greatest results in club history. For Schalke this match obviously was a formality as they frustrated their home fans with a lackluster display. Over 2 legs there is no doubt that Schalke obviously were the better team, but they will need a much better attitude in the group stage.