week 20 - match preview

Royal Blues confident ahead of Bremen clash

The attention of the entire country will turn to Bremen on Sunday, when the Royal Blues take on Werder in what is undoubtedly the match of the weekend. At today's press conference Mirko Slomka said the sense of anticipation ahead of the game was palpable, not only among his players.

"I think it's very positive that we're involved in a game that's attracting massive interest all over Germany and beyond", the Schalke boss said ahead of the clash against league leaders Bremen, who are level on points with the Royal Blues. In the reverse fixture Schalke registered a 2-0 win after a tremendous 90 minutes at the VELTINS Arena. "And we'll go there looking to take our chance with confidence", promised Slomka.

The match at the Weser Stadium will be a clash between equals. "Both teams have offered impressive evidence that they deserve to be at the top", explained Slomka, who sees a number of parallels between the two rivals: "Both sides have great quality in attack thanks to their pacy strikers. We may have a slight edge in defence; we've conceded fewer goals at any rate. But both teams have some genuine personalities in central defence: Marcelo Bordon and Mladen Krstajic on one side, Naldo and Per Mertesacker on the other."

The Schalke boss therefore believes the top-of-the-table clash could go either way: "It'll be a game on a knife-edge with lots of attacking football", he predicted, though he suspects the game may be decided in defence.

Whoever wins, both Slomka and Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf agree that the outcome of the title race won't be decided just yet. "There are too many games left to play for that, but Sunday's game will give us an indication of where we stand at the top."

Nevertheless, the Schalke boss said it would be a mistake to believe the battle for the championship was a two-horse race: "Bayern and Stuttgart are still breathing down our necks and I'm sure it's going to stay exciting right until the end."

Slomka still has a number of decisions to make before Sunday, such as who is going to replace the suspended Rafinha and the injured Levan Kobiashvili (toe). But he is keeping his cards close to his chest. "Hamit Altintop, Tim Hoogland, and Gustavo Varela have all played at right-back before." He was therefore reluctant to name one player: "You never know what might happen in the run-up to the match."