There were a few shrewd punters who managed to back Schalke at odds of 5/1 to win at the San Siro last week, although very few would have gone for a correct score of 5-2 in favour of the German side, especially after Inter had taken an early lead.

Felix Magath may have left the Veltins Arena after a poor domestic campaign, although Die Königsblauen are the surprise package of this season’s Champions League and can be backed at 9/5 (William Hill – £25 free bets) to win Wednesday’s second leg against an Inter team in disarray.

Everything seemed to be going fine for the Champions League holders until the derby against AC Milan ten days ago which saw them lose 3-0, a result which preceded the first leg. However, Leonardo’s team were victorious on German soil in the last round when they knocked out Bayern Munich and are 8/5 with Victor Chandler (£25 free bet) to win this game.

Qualifying for the semi-finals is another matter entirely and bet365 are prepared to offer 25/1 about the Italian champions getting the result that they need in Germany, although players like Samuel Eto’o (6/1 Coral) and Wesley Sneijder (9/1 Ladbrokes) are capable of making things tense for a Schalke side intent on protecting their lead.

The home side warmed up for the match with a 1-0 win over Wolfsburg on Saturday and Jefferson Farfan is a 15/2 chance (bet365 – £200 free betting offer) to score first with the old stager Raul (6/1 Paddy Power) looking to continue his European adventure.