FC Schalke 04

[Oliver_Kahn]

Tough match for Schalke, Hannover have been very strong at home, since the restart of the Bundesliga.

I fancy Hannover to make Schalke drop some points

[Oliver_Kahn]

When he injured his knee in the game against Hertha BSC Berlin it seemed the season was over for Gustavo Varela. But now there is some hope that the Uruguay international will be able to help the Royal Blues in their bid to win the league title. The Schalke number seven flies back to Germany on Sunday. In this interview he talks about his treatment in Uruguay, his contact with his team mates and his hopes of a return to action.

Gustavo Varela, when you injured your knee against Hertha BSC Berlin your season appeared to be over. But now there's a chance you'll be able to return to action soon.
My plan is to do a few more days of rehabilitation training here in Uruguay, fly back to Germany on Sunday and return to full training a week on Tuesday.

When do you think you'll be able to play in the Bundesliga again?
My doctor in Uruguay, Dr Carlos Suero, says I might be able to play part of the game against VfB Stuttgart in a fortnight's time.

How is that possible?
I kept calm after the injury and was hopeful because I had a weird feeling: my knee didn't really swell up and I was able to walk normally. On the advice of my doctor I began by doing eight days of weight training in Uruguay. I then underwent a fitness test on my knee after there was a bit of swelling. Straight after that I had surgery, when only a bit of the meniscus had to be removed.

Have you been able to keep up with Schalke's progress over the last few weeks?
I've been up to date all the time because the players - for example Kevin Kuranyi, Marcelo Bordon and Manuel Neuer - have been phoning me. It's a shame we've haven't been able to win again since I was injured, but we're still top of the league. We can still do it.

Did you hear about Mladen Krstajic playing with a broken rib?
Yes, I did and I can understand him. I'm very impatient, too. I want to help out in the Bundesliga again as soon as possible.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Royal Blues travel to Hannover in determined mood

Schalke coach Mirko Slomka intends to guide his team back to form when they take on Hannover 96 at his former stomping ground on Saturday.

"The players have trained well all week. They've put the recent defeats behind them and know exactly what's expected of them", emphasised Slomka. The individual errors that saw the Royal Blues concede three goals in spite of two battling performances have been discussed and put to bed. "We're looking forward and focusing totally on Hannover now," he said. The various discussions this week have all led to the same conclusion: "We have to look to what made us strong and return our former level of excellence." Slomka has told his players they have to keep a clean sheet for as long as possible and fashion more chances than they did in the second half against Hamburg, for example. Yet there was one thing his players could take from their recent home games, and that was "their unbending will to win."

Slomka's friendship with Hannover coach Dieter Hecking will again be put to one side for 90 minutes. But for the two professionals this is not a problem. "Our friendship has nothing to do with the game. In the week before a match we never speak on the phone", said Slomka.
Though the Schalke boss would have preferred to be playing in front of a home crowd, he knows he can count on the support of thousands of travelling fans in Hannover. And unlike in recent games when the visitors to the VELTINS Arena have been very defensive-minded, the Schalke boss expects the home team to play an open style of football. "I think Hannover will be under pressure after the defeat in Frankfurt. But they're not a team who pack their defence, so it's going to be an open game and we'll have to exploit the individual qualities that possibly make us that little bit better than Hannover."

Dario Rodriguez will not play a part, however, after picking up his fifth yellow card last week. Soren Larsen was forced to pull out of training on Thursday with an inflamed knee. A decision on the Denmark striker's fitness will probably be delayed until Friday, and this also applies to Gerald Asamoah's comeback. This week the 28-year-old powerhouse has taken part in every training session for the first time since breaking his leg in Nancy at the end of September and is therefore in the squad to face Hannover.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Hannover 1-1 Schalke (4' Tarnat / 2' H. Altintop)

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Gotta thank Hannover. We gotta win tomorrow against Bremen, and Schalke's lead would be shorterned to 4 pts only. It was 11 once, haha. 8)

[Oliver_Kahn]

VS

MD 25: FC Schalke 04 vs VfB Stuttgart
Stadium: VELTINS-Arena, Gelsenkirchen
Date: Saturday, 17th Mar, 15:30 C.E.T. (GMT +1)

Quick Schalke stats
Current League Form: WDLLD

Schalke have to win, or they might drop to 2nd place.

[Trim]

Our title rivals facing each other. Great. I'd love a draw in this match.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Neuer secures point in Hannover

After two home defeats in a row Schalke added to their points total again on Saturday, drawing 1-1 at Hannover 96 in front of a sell-out 49,000 crowd at the AWD Arena. Halil Altintop gave the Royal Blues a second-minute lead, only for Michael Tarnat to level the scores 120 seconds later. Mirko Slomka's men have now amassed 50 points and remain on top of the table.

"It was a fair result", said Slomka after the match. "We had a slight advantage in the first half, but we also had some luck in the closing stages." The Schalke boss was therefore content to settle for a point. "Though it hasn't seen us pull away from the chasing pack, we're still top of the league and can look forward with confidence to the matches ahead."

Slomka made two changes to the team that faced Bayer Leverkusen at home last week. Sebastian Boenisch came in at left-back for the suspended Dario Rodriguez, while Mesut Özil replaced Hamit Altintop.

And it was Özil who provided the first highlight of the game in the second minute. The young Turk's free-kick found Halil Altintop, who poked the ball into the net to give his side the lead. Yet the thousands of travelling Schalke fans had hardly stopped celebrating when the Royal Blues were pegged back. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was impeded from a corner, but the referee waved play on, and Hannover's Michael Tarnat bundled the ball home for the equaliser.

After this explosive start it was Schalke who assumed the initiative. Following Slomka's instructions to the letter, the Royal Blues showed plenty of aggression in the tackle and thus enjoyed the majority of the possession. Until the final third their football was very neat, but then they either lacked a cutting edge or Hannover keeper Robert Enke intervened to cut out any danger.

For their part, the home side put on a very defensive display in the opening 45 minutes. Operating with just one out-and-out striker, Gunnar Thorvaldsson, the Reds were content to sit back and wait. It was a very different approach to the one adopted by Schalke, who took the game by the scruff of the neck and can consider themselves very unlucky with some of the decisions by the officials. Neuer was twice clearly impeded in the run-up to the equaliser. And when Boenisch fed Halil Altintop three minutes before the interval, the Turkey striker was not offside and would have been clean through on goal. A similar situation had already occurred in the 21st minute, when Kevin Kuranyi was also wrongly adjudged to be offside.

In the second half the Royal Blues turned the tables on the home side and invited Hannover to attack them. Halil Altintop and Mesut Özil operated largely from deeper positions in midfield, yet the opportunities to counterattack this strategy was supposed to create failed to materialise. Schalke's only serious threat came on 63 when Kevin Kuranyi narrowly failed to connect with Özil's free-kick at the back post. At the other end Neuer was called into action on three separate occasions. "We certainly had a bit of luck, but we've earned it in training this week", said Slomka.

Hannover: Enke - Cherundolo, Fahrenhorst, Vinicius, Tarnat - Lala, Balitsch - Rosenthal (Bruggink 90'), Yankov (Schröter 46'), Huszti - Thorvaldsson (Stajner 71')

Schalke: Neuer - Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Boenisch - Bajramovic (Hamit Altintop 75'), Ernst, Kobiashvili - Halil Altintop, Kuranyi (Larsen 81'), Özil

Goals: 0-1 Halil Altintop (2'), 1-1 Tarnat (4')

Referee: Kircher (Rottenburg)

Yellow cards: Lala - Ernst, Kuranyi

Attendance: 49,000

[Trim]

VfB will make the trip to Gelsenkirchen to face league leaders FC Schalke 04 on Saturday, 17th March (3:30pm kick-off) at the Veltins-Arena.

Title dreams

For Schalke, who haven't won the league title in 49 years are dreaming of taking the championship trophy back to Gelsenkirchen and with that finally burying the ghosts of 2001 when for almost five minutes the club believed they had won the league until a injury time goal in Munchen saw the title go to Bayern. Broken hearts in blue have taken a long time in mending.

Losing Lincoln

Schalke, who are currently clear at the top of the Bundesliga, have lost both of their most recent home ties against Bayer 04 Leverkusen (0:1) and Hamburg SV (0:2), and with that dropped valuable points in the title race. Lincoln saw red against HSV and will still be suspended for the clash with Stuttgart.

Injury worries

The incident against Hamburg wasn't the first slip up in the Brazilian playmakers career. Lincoln was red carded back in the league cup final in 2005 for spitting in the face of VfB midfield man Thomas Hitzlsperger. A slip which cost him a five game suspension. Lincoln's suspension, coupled with injuries to important players such as Peter Lövenkrands, Gustavo Varela, Gerald Asamoah and Christian Pander leave Schalke with a thin personnel skin in their plight to win the chmpionship and the team for each vital tie virtually picks itself.

Youngster as goal-keeper

In goal, the youngster Manuel Neuer has become an essential element of the side in his first season between the posts. The back four will most likely consist of Rafinha, ex VfB man Marcelo José Bordon, Mladen Krstajic and the most recently suspended Dario Rodriguez. Across the middle it's Hamit Altintop, Fabian Ernst, Zlatan Bajramovic and Levan Kobiashvili who are Mirko Slomka's first choice four. Up front there is no question about ex-VfB striker Kevin Kuranyi whilst Halil Altintop and Sören Larsen battle it out for the open strikers spot.

[Trim]

The focus during training on Wednesday was on the players returning from injury, or at least those who were in action in the fresh air, as Peter Lovenkrands and Soren Larsen trained separately at the club's medicos rehab centre. Christian Pander, Gerald Asamoah and even Gustavo Varela are all in with a chance of making a brief appearance during this Saturday's home clash with VfB Stuttgart.

Lovenkrands complained of tired muscles after jogging with the rest of the squad yesterday, so purely precautionary measure he trained alone with fellow Denmark international Soren Larsen, who is still suffering from an inflammation in his knee. The strike duo have already pulled out of the Denmark squad to face Spain in a European Championship qualifier next week.

Christian Pander is delighted with his progress and is improving with every day: "If it carries on like this anything is possible on Saturday, though I want to be 100 percent fit to be able to help the team." The 23-year-old left-back said he was in no pain when shooting but was not quite ready for 90 minutes: "We'll have to see how things develop. I might be able to play for an hour, always assuming I make it in time for Saturday."

Gerald Asamoah is still targeting the visit to Bayern Munich on 31 March for his return. "I'm hoping to be fit enough to feature as a substitute against Stuttgart and get a few minutes on the pitch", the 28-year-old said. As with Pander, fitness is the main thing on his mind at the moment: "I still have a slight ache in the injured leg, but that's normal. I'm still only 60 percent fit as well. That shows the difference between jogging on the treadmill and running with the rest of the players."

Another player burning to face Stuttgart is Gustavo Varela. The Uruguay international has no more pain in his knee and monitoring his progress every day to see whether he will be fit in time for Saturday. After today's running and shooting drills Varela trained with rehab coach Dr Christos Papadopoulos and was in confident mood later. "The doc is treating me every day. If things carry on like this I might get 10 or 20 minutes in against Stuttgart." The knee injury is not the first he has suffered as a Schalke player and so it not weighing on his mind at all. "I'm not worried about it. I have to get back in the team, that's all I'm thinking about. But if the team are playing well enough, I'm happy to take my place on the bench."

There was also some news concerning Schalke's suspended playmaker, Lincoln. The Brazilian is being dogged by a muscle tear sustained in the match against Bayer Leverkusen. But now that Lincoln has completed an endurance test head coach Mirko Slomka expects him to resume training next Wednesday.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Former injured players burning to face Stuttgart

The focus during training on Wednesday was on the players returning from injury, or at least those who were in action in the fresh air, as Peter Lovenkrands and Soren Larsen trained separately at the club's medicos rehab centre. Christian Pander, Gerald Asamoah and even Gustavo Varela are all in with a chance of making a brief appearance during this Saturday's home clash with VfB Stuttgart.

Lovenkrands complained of tired muscles after jogging with the rest of the squad yesterday, so purely precautionary measure he trained alone with fellow Denmark international Soren Larsen, who is still suffering from an inflammation in his knee. The strike duo have already pulled out of the Denmark squad to face Spain in a European Championship qualifier next week.

Christian Pander is delighted with his progress and is improving with every day: "If it carries on like this anything is possible on Saturday, though I want to be 100 percent fit to be able to help the team." The 23-year-old left-back said he was in no pain when shooting but was not quite ready for 90 minutes: "We'll have to see how things develop. I might be able to play for an hour, always assuming I make it in time for Saturday."

Gerald Asamoah is still targeting the visit to Bayern Munich on 31 March for his return. "I'm hoping to be fit enough to feature as a substitute against Stuttgart and get a few minutes on the pitch", the 28-year-old said. As with Pander, fitness is the main thing on his mind at the moment: "I still have a slight ache in the injured leg, but that's normal. I'm still only 60 percent fit as well. That shows the difference between jogging on the treadmill and running with the rest of the players."

Another player burning to face Stuttgart is Gustavo Varela. The Uruguay international has no more pain in his knee and monitoring his progress every day to see whether he will be fit in time for Saturday. After today's running and shooting drills Varela trained with rehab coach Dr Christos Papadopoulos and was in confident mood later. "The doc is treating me every day. If things carry on like this I might get 10 or 20 minutes in against Stuttgart." The knee injury is not the first he has suffered as a Schalke player and so it not weighing on his mind at all. "I'm not worried about it. I have to get back in the team, that's all I'm thinking about. But if the team are playing well enough, I'm happy to take my place on the bench."

There was also some news concerning Schalke's suspended playmaker, Lincoln. The Brazilian is being dogged by a muscle tear sustained in the match against Bayer Leverkusen. But now that Lincoln has completed an endurance test head coach Mirko Slomka expects him to resume training next Wednesday.

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Saturday's home clash with VfB Stuttgart is a very important game, as Mirko Slomka emphasises. The Schalke boss has laid down the clear objective of consolidating the club's position at the top of the table and keeping one of their main rivals in the championship race at bay.

Stuttgart have gone three games without a win, though Slomka was unwilling to talk in terms of a crisis: "They're still very confident and are a very, very good side. Like us they've had a bit of a sticky patch and been without several key players."

The situation ahead of Saturday's game at the VELTINS Arena, however, was completely different, the Schalke coach continued. With a win his players could protect their lead at the top and extend the gap to one of the chasing teams, while Stuttgart had an opportunity to move within a point of the Royal Blues.
Yet for all the game's explosive potential the championship race would not be settled on Saturday, stressed Slomka. "It's not a final. You can only talk of a match being a final when the title is at stake." Instead, the clash against Stuttgart was an "exceptionally important game".

And Slomka also pointed to the visit to Bayern Munich on 31 March as another very important game. But regardless of their opponents, his side would not be underestimating anybody. "At this stage of the season all the teams are fighting to get into a decisive position, no matter what end of the table they are at", the Schalke boss warned.

In view of their three-point lead at the top the Royal Blues are "favourites to win the league", according to Slomka. "We're going to defend this position with every means at our disposal. And our means have improved this week because almost all our injured players have been able to resume training. This has seen us take a significant step forward. Compared with recent weeks there's been a vast difference in the way the players have been battling and playing."

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Schalke 1-0 Stuttgart (77' Krstajic)

There, the win returns for Schalke, and just when it was most needed.