week 16 - match preview

Bremen game a great match-up of different qualities

It's second against third on Saturday (1830 CET) as the Royal Blues pay a visit to Werder Bremen. Felix Magath is not alone in thinking it's a great match-up, though not necessarily because of the league standings.

"This is a meeting of two sides with the second-highest points haul so far this season, of that there is no doubt", he said at Thursday's pre-match press conference. That Schalke could even go into the winter break on top of the table was irrelevant, Magath added. "It tells you nothing about what the future will bring. The table changes almost every week, but the points on the board remain. They're a better indicator of how a team is doing than the positions in the table." The Royal Blues have 28 points to their name, a "highly pleasing" total according to Magath. "All in all we've had a good season so far in terms of the end product", he said.

The Weserstadion clash has all the makings of a great game, then, but it is a meeting of two very different teams. "There are still things we can learn from the way Bremen play football", said Magath in praise of Werder's attacking qualities. "They usually score lots of goals or at least create plenty of chances. But we'll try to be effective and come away with a result."

Magath refused to be fazed by an impressive run of 23 games without defeat. "Albert Einstein would certainly have found a way to work out the probability of Werder losing", he joked. But if the Royal Blues are going to end Bremen's run, they will have to play to their strengths in the customary way. "If we play with courage and resolution at the back, we have to be prepared to go forward", continued Magath, who has identified a weakness in the Bremen rearguard. "Teams who are good in attack usually have a susceptible defence. It's up to us to seize the opportunity."

That said, the Royal Blues have attacking qualities of their own, as their chances-to-goals ratio shows. The Schalke strikers need just five chances to find the net. "Of course we have our qualities in attack, but we're still a long way from achieving the necessary automatic understanding there", a critical Magath said, highlighting what he intends to improve as the season progresses.