week 9 - match preview
Bielefeld won't be pretty, says Rutten
In Arminia Bielefeld the Royal Blues play host to a team they love playing against this Saturday (kick-off: 1530). Schalke have emerged victorious from the last eight meetings between the two sides, while Bielefeld have registered just one win ever in Gelsenkirchen.
Yet Fred Rutten knows the game is far from being a formality, even though Arminia crashed to a 4-1 defeat at Wolfsburg last week. The Schalke boss expects to see a completely different Bielefeld team this time out. "It won't be a pretty game for us. Bielefeld will take a very defensive approach at the Arena."
Halil Altintop also expects Michael Frontzeck's team to keep things tight at the back to begin with, preferring to rely on their ability on the counterattack and Artur Wichniarek's scoring power (six league goals this season). But he is not losing any sleep over their cautious style of play. "Against PSG we proved that we can break teams down. Our attacking play is improving all the time. We'll get a good result against Bielefeld as well."
The Turkey international feels there will be no lack of motivation on Saturday. "We're sixth in the table and have ground to make up. Our aim is to challenge at the top. To do that we need a put a run together, and the sooner we start the better."
Words that Rutten will be pleased to hear. The Dutchman was pleased with his side's performance in the 3-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in their opening UEFA Cup group stage encounter at the VELTINS Arena on Thursday. And he isn't overly concerned that the game against Bielefeld kicks off just 44 hours after the final whistle against PSG.
"We began our recuperation in the dressing room straight after the match. We have the perfect facilities for situations like these ", stressed Rutten, who knows that having more time to prepare does not automatically mean you are going to win. "At the beginning of October Stuttgart had one day less to recover from their UEFA Cup game against Varna than Werder Bremen did after playing in the Champions League, but still beat them 4-1 less than 48 hours after their game against the Bulgarians ended", he explained.
Bielefeld's sole away victory over Schalke dates back to April 1971, when they won 1-0 at the Glückauf-Kampfbahn thanks to a goal by Gerd Roggensack. It later turned out that the result had been manipulated, with each Schalke player receiving 2,300 deutschmarks to lose the game deliberately. It was one of a number of fixtures that became known as the 'Bundesliga scandal', which was triggered by a spate of match-fixing throughout the league. A total of 53 players, two coaches and six officials from a host of clubs were eventually convicted.
