week 28 - match preview

Bremen game could decide Schalke's season

Three days after their Barcelona outing the Royal Blues face their next major challenge on Saturday when they travel to Werder Bremen for the weekend's top game. Schalke head coach Mirko Slomka left journalists at today's press conference in no doubt as to his side's objective against Werder, saying: "We want to win."

After the unfortunate Champions League exit on Wednesday Schalke's attention now returns to Bundesliga business. "As we have said repeatedly over the last few weeks, we want to finish the season in a position that entitles us to play in the Champions League again next year", Slomka stressed. The Schalke boss is therefore attaching the utmost importance to getting the players ready to face Bremen, both physically and mentally.

For Slomka it is certainly no disadvantage to be playing a team from the top end of the table. "If we can manage a win, it could prove to be a decisive step towards qualifying for the Champions League", he said.

The Schalke boss has great respect for Thomas Schaaf's side, even though they have not been playing well at home just recently, having slipped to surprise defeats against Wolfsburg (0-1) and Duisburg (1-2): "I expect to come up against a Bremen side who will put us under a lot of pressure in a bid to claim all three points."

Schalke's committed performance in Barcelona and recent results against Bremen have left Slomka confident of victory on Saturday. "We've always done well against Werder in the last few years", he explained. Above all the Schalke boss was referring to the same fixture last season, which the Royal Blues won 2-0 (both goals from Peter Lovenkrands) thanks to a battling midfield performance and some great counterattacking play.

Slomka hopes a similar strategy will guide his team to victory once again at the Weser Stadium. "Bremen like to push up, which leaves space for us to exploit. They'll go flat out from the start and are known for creating lots of chances. So our defence will have to be up to the challenge."

While Bremen will be without Sebastian Boenisch and Daniel Jensen (muscle strains) on Saturday, and possibly Hugo Almeida (hip) as well, the Royal Blues have the following players out: Zlatan Bajramovic (toe), Markus Heppke (shoulder), Levan Kobiashvili (groin), Ivan Rakitic (ankle), Gustavo Varela (thyroid dysfunction) and Ze Roberto (muscle strain). There is also some doubt over Christian Pander (thigh).