Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola celebrates his team's goal in their 1-1 draw with Schalke in the Bundesliga on Tuesday. Tobias Hase / EPA / February 3, 2015
Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola celebrates his team's goal in their 1-1 draw with Schalke in the Bundesliga on Tuesday. Tobias Hase / EPA / February 3, 2015

Sport

Far from upset over more dropped points, Bayern Munich’s Pep Guardiola ‘very happy’ with Schalke draw

'We wanted three points, but our performance was much better' on Tuesday after their previous 4-1 loss to Wolfsburg, said Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola.

Agence France Presse

February 04, 2015

Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich managed to eke out a 1-1 draw at home to Schalke on Tuesday despite playing over 70 minutes with 10 men following Jerome Boateng's dismissal.

The defending champions have failed to win both games since the return to action after the winter break, but they maintained their eight point lead at the top of the table.

Bayern coach Pep Guardiola was far from disappointed at dropping points at home.

“I’m very happy. It’s never easy against Schalke, we controlled the game and had our chances in front of goal,” said Guardiola.

“We wanted the three points, but our performance was much better.

“We played very well when it was 11 versus 11, but there is no need to talk about the red card.”

Arjen Robben’s second-half header gave Bayern the lead before Schalke captain Benedikt Howedes equalised five minutes later.

“We had more control in the game today than against Wolfsburg and did not allow them to counter,” said captain Bastian Schweinsteiger referring to the 4-1 defeat.

“But in Stuttgart we need a win and a good performance.”

Bayern had Boateng dismissed with just 17 minutes gone for a foul on Schalke’s Sidney Sam.

But Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer easily saved Eric Choupo-Moting’s weak effort from the resulting penalty.

Schalke had personnel problems as Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, last season’s league top scorer, is suspended while injury meant the team played their third-choice goalkeeper for the second half.

“It’s annoying to go 1-0 up and then to draw,” fumed Robben.

“We played really well against a super defensive side and considering we played with 10 men, we played great.”

Wolfsburg needed a late goal from Belgian international Kevin de Bruyne to rescue a point against Eintracht Frankfurt in a 1-1 draw.

Wolves opted to leave Andre Schurrle out of the matchday squad having signed the Germany winger from Chelsea on Monday.

The visitors were brought back down to earth after beating Bayern as Frankfurt’s Stefan Aigner put the hosts ahead in the 58th minute and nearly added a second soon after.

But De Bruyne, who scored twice in the 4-1 romp over Bayern, underlined his stellar season by scoring two minutes from time to leave him with six goals and 11 assists this season.

Borussia Monchengladbach consolidated third place with a 1-0 win at home to Freiburg, Patrick Herrmann scoring his second goal in as many games.

Wednesday’s action will see ailing giants Borussia Dortmund, presently bottom of the table, bid to claim three much-needed points when they host fifth-placed Augsburg.

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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?

The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.

Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.

“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.

The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.

The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.

Bloomberg