Weakened line-up, same old story for Arsenal. As if a tepid away defeat in Europe was not predictable enough from Arsene Wenger's side, red card number 37 of the Frenchman's five-year reign provided another depressingly familiar sight.
Oleg Luzhny was the recipient last night, and by the time he went in the 16th minute for an off-the-ball clash, Arsenal were a goal down. Behind inside 90 seconds, they produced next to nothing in attack, looked poor in defence and were beaten by the time Sylvain Wiltord scored from Ray Parlour's cross.
Not that Wenger sent out his strongest team. With a place in the second phase guaranteed and Panathinaikos out of reach, the Frenchman rested several players - including Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry - and played Brazilian Edu for the first time this season.
Schalke's new stadium, with the roof closed, was filled to its 52,000 capacity with fans hoping to see their team qualify for the UEFA Cup, and they were in raptures as Schalke took an early lead.
Jorg Bohme's cross deflected off Oleg Luzhny to the far post, where Ebbe Sand squared for Youri Mulder to force the ball over the line.
The last time Wenger picked such a weak team, at Shakhtar Donetsk at the same stage last season, Arsenal were beaten 3-0, and this was almost a repeat.
As if things were not going badly enough for Arsenal, they were reduced to 10 men when Luzhny appeared to strike Bohme with his arm inside Schalke's half.
Schalke resumed after the interval in similar fashion but Arsenal's hopes of an equaliser were undone by too many poor passes and they were creating few problems going forward. Sylvain Wiltord was all but anonymous and his error presented Schalke with their second.
The striker was caught in possession midway inside his own half and, after Mulder had dummied an Anibal Matellan cross, Sven Vermant drove a low shot beyond Wright. A third followed shortly after, Andreas Moller scoring from Sand's pass after more poor defending.
SCHALKE: Reck, Matellan, Hajto, Waldoch, Van Hoogdalem (Kmetsch 64), Vermant (Djordjevic 74), Nemec (Thon 67), Mulder, Bohme, Moller, Sand. Subs Not Used: Grodas, Buskens, Pinto, Trojan. Booked: Bohme, Matellan, Mulder. Goals: Mulder 2, Vermant 60, Moller 64.
ARSENAL: Wright, Luzhny, Campbell (Keown 67), Upson (Stepanovs 66), Cole, Parlour, Grimandi, Edu, Pires, Kanu (Pennant 78), Wiltord. Subs Not Used: Taylor, Ljungberg, Inamoto, Aliadiere. Sent Off: Luzhny (16). Booked: Edu. Goals: Wiltord 71.
Referee: R Wojcik (Poland).
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