week 1 - match preview

Slomka: "We couldn't have asked for a better opening game"

The league campaign can start now. Ahead of the season opener at VfB Stuttgart on Friday (10 August) head coach Mirko Slomka has almost a full squad to choose from. The match kicks off at the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium at 2030 CET and is being shown live across Europe, for example on German free-to-air channel ARD.

Fortunately we haven't suffered any long-term injuries so far", said Slomka, who in Mathias Abel and Gustavo Varela will be without just two players. A question mark hangs over Soren Larsen and Halil Altintop, though, both of whom are carrying knocks. While the Dane was able to train with the rest of the squad on Wednesday, the Turkey international did some work on his own.

Slomka is really looking forward to Friday's match: "Champions against runners-up: "We couldn't have asked for a better opening game" And the Schalke boss is pleased his side have been handed a cracker right at the start. "It gives us a chance to show what we've been working on for the last six weeks", he said.

Slomka feels Stuttgart are on a similar level to last season. "The team they put out on Friday will bear little resemblance to the ones that played in the League Cup and DFB Cup. They're the German champions - there's no question about that."

Some doubt remains over the fitness of Stuttgart strikers Cacau and Mario Gomez. Both have been unable to train as normal, but Slomka is urging caution: "Even if they're both out against us, Stuttgart will still have a strong team out."

Commenting on the form of his own side Slomka said: Going by our pre-season preparations I'd say we're on a similar level to last season. We'll have to await the next few games to see whether we're just as good."