week 1 - match preview
Valencia opener of key importance
The excitement is mounting as the Royal Blues prepare to face Valencia in their Champions League opener on Tuesday. Some 900 of 1,300 tickets returned by the visitors on Friday were sold over the weekend, leaving just 400 available. The run on the tickets is understandable. The game against the Spaniards is a key encounter, after all.
In Europe's premier club competition Schalke will not be underestimating any of their opponents, but they have set themselves the target of being one of the two clubs to progress to the last 16 at the end of the group phase. General manager Andreas Müller therefore left no one in any doubt as to the game's significance at today's media conference. "Looking at it realistically, second place is between us and Valencia. So a win for us would obviously be very important." Though Müller is aware that the outcome of the group won't be decided until matchday six: "We need to get off to a good start. It would be the right signal to send out for the rest of our Champions League campaign."
To ensure the team are ideally prepared, the Royal Blues have had their opponents watched several times. Assistant coach Nestor El Maestro saw Valencia's 2-1-away win at Almeria a fortnight ago, while head scout Uwe Scherr watched the La Liga outfit defeat Real Valladolid 2-1 at home on Saturday. "They keep things tight at the back and have some very creative players in attack", said head coach Mirko Slomka.
The 40-year-old will prepare his players for the game but will not be able to intervene himself due to suspension. Instead he will watch the whole game from the stands. And Slomka already has an inkling of the kind of game he'll see. "It's set to be an exciting, hard-fought match and we hope we can emerge victorious."
Commenting on the general mood at Schalke's Spanish rivals, Slomka said: "We hear they're not entirely happy with the start to the season in Valencia, but in the past they've often shown a different side to their game when they play in the Champions League." Last season the Spaniards reached the quarter-final stage, where they went out by the narrowest of margins against Chelsea (1-2/1-1).
While the Royal Blues did not release any details of their game plan against Valencia, the most important factors are no secret. "We can't afford to make too many mistakes in defence because if we do we'll be severely punished", warned team captain Marcelo Bordon. "You don't get many chances to score in Europe. So it's about taking the ones you do get", added Slomka.
The Royal Blues will be without Mathias Abel (cruciate ligament), Mladen Krstajic (knee), Levan Kobiashvili (groin) and Gustavo Varela (rehab). But Zlatan Bajramovic's cervical spine problems are "significantly better", according to Slomka. The Bosnian midfielder could therefore be a candidate for the squad. Everyone else is fit and available to play.
The remaining tickets are on sale at the 'S04-ServiceCenter' on the club complex, which is open to 6 pm Monday and from 9 am on Tuesday.
