Rangnick plays down visa controversy
When the German side arrived to catch their flight to Manchester ahead of today’s semi-final second leg with United at Old Trafford, they discovered visas for five of their players, including Jefferson Farfan, Edu and Atsuto Uchida, had not been issued.
No immediate reason was given for the delay, although it was suggested two Bank Holidays around the May Day weekend, including one for the Royal Wedding last Friday, might have meant problems processing the application.
The visas were eventually issued, with Rangnick making light of the eventual delay of an hour to Schalke’s arrival.
“We didn’t know in advance. We got the information when we were waiting at the airport,” Rangnick said.
“It was not really a problem for us. The only effect it had was that we left 90 minutes later than we should have done and arrived an hour after.
“But with the hour time difference we still got to our hotel in time.”
Rangnick has enough on his plate without such problems, with his side 2-0 down from the first leg in Gelsenkirchen last Tuesday, when they were horrendously outplayed.
It would appear mission impossible but Rangnick is taking inspiration from two meetings between United and Bayern Munich; that epic at the Nou Camp in 1999 and last year’s quarter-final.
On the first of those occasions, United famously scored twice in injury time to snatch the cup from German hands, while last year Alex Ferguson’s side swept into a three-goal lead on the night at Old Trafford but eventually bowed out on away goals.
“We have to be well organised and take our chances when they are presented,” he said.
“Even if there are just two minutes left we still have to think about United and in 1999 when they were a goal down going into injury-time and they still managed to win.
“You can never tell what will happen in football.
“Things can turn around so quickly, and United’s match against Bayern last year is another example.”
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