FC Schalke 04 - Page 6 - TalkSoccer

**Trim** · 12-02-2007, 08:03 AM

Bundesliga leaders Schalke have been dealt a major blow. Gustavo Varela picked up an injury and will be out for the remainder of the season.

The midfielder ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in Schalke's 2-0 win over Hertha BSC on Saturday.

Surgery needed

"This is really tragic. Unfortunately, the season is over for him. He needs to undergo surgery", club doctor Dr. Thorsten Rarreck said.

Varela had to be substituted twenty minutes from time. He is Schalke's third long-term injury victim in two weeks following the injuries to Christian Pander (torn ankle ligament) and Ralf Fährmann (torn thigh tendon).

**Trim** · 12-02-2007, 08:03 AM

This is a big blow for Schalke, as he's one of their key midfielders.

**Oliver_Kahn** · 12-02-2007, 01:52 PM

Sad news, Varela is a great player.

**Oliver_Kahn** · 12-02-2007, 01:56 PM

Schalke will win, I'm almost sure of that.

Only Hanke and Marcelinho can disturb Schalke's defence, while Schalke have the Altintop brothers and Kuranyi.

**Trim** · 16-02-2007, 08:55 AM

There was good news for the Royal Blues as they began their preparations for Saturday's trip to VfL Wolfsburg yesterday. Levan Kobiashvili was able to resume full training.

The left-sided utility player missed the last two league games against Werder Bremen and Hertha BSC Berlin because of a painful toe injury but re-joined his team-mates for the first training session of the week on Tuesday afternoon.

Mladen Krstajic (stomach upset) did not train, however, while Marcelo Bordon and Lincoln, who were dogged by various minor injuries last week, restricted themselves to some light jogging.

**Trim** · 16-02-2007, 08:55 AM

Dario Rodriguez proved his friendship yet again on Monday when he drove Gustavo Varela to the airport. The Schalke striker is returning home to Uruguay for an operation on the cruciate ligament tear he sustained during the home clash with Hertha BSC Berlin on Saturday.

The surgery will be performed by Uruguay team doctor Dr Carlos Suero. Valera, 28, whose foot just got stuck in the turf with no opposition player near him, has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

Two other Schalke players have grounds for hope, however. Leven Kobiashvili should resume full training this week, possibly even on Tuesday. The left-sided utility player has been out for the last two weeks after picking up a painful toe injury. Hamit Altintop is also due back in training again. The Turkey international suffered a deep cut in his foot during his brief appearance against Hertha.

**Trim** · 16-02-2007, 08:57 AM

FC Schalke 04 are looking to extend their winning run in the Bundesliga on Saturday. Yet head coach Mirko Slomka feels opponents VfL Wolfsburg are showing a "positive trend".

Slomka underlined his admiration for the Lower Saxony outfit with a few facts. "They beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 at home and drew 2-2 at Eintracht Frankfurt and Hannover 96. The warning signs are there, we know we have to adopt a cautious approach and maintain our focus for the whole 90 minutes", the 39-year-old coach said.

The Royal Blues are also interpreting another statistic as a warning. Wolfsburg have scored 20 league goals this season, but almost half of them, i.e. eight, have come in the first four games since the winter break. "With their two strikers Hanke and Klimowicz, their wide attacking midfielders Menseguez and Krznowek and with Marcelinho they have a much more potent strike force", said Slomka, attaching names to Wolfsburg's new attacking threat. "That obviously creates opportunities for us because we may get room to go forward, but initially we're going to have to be very competitive at the back to stifle any attempt by Wolfsburg to break through."

Here Slomka is placing his faith in the strengths his players have shown in recent weeks. "We had another look at the Hertha game and to put it in figurative terms it was like a tug-of-war: Hertha were very strong in the beginning, but in the second half we pulled so hard they fell over. When you look at it like that the victory was almost better than the win in Bremen." The Schalke boss is expecting a similar tussle in Wolfsburg. "The game will again develop as a process. But we have the quality to achieve our objective and win in Wolfsburg as well."

In their bid to do so the Royal Blues will be without long-term casualties Gerald Asamoah, Christian Pander, Soren Larsen, Gustavo Varela, Markus Heppke and Ralf Fährmann, though Levan Kobiashvili has recovered from his toe injury and is available.

**Trim** · 16-02-2007, 06:49 PM

It was good news all round for the Royal Blues after training on Friday. All the players who have been carrying knocks or ill this week completed the session and are in the squad for Saturday's match at VfL Wolfsburg.

After missing training for a few days due to flu goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was back on board along with fellow sufferer Kevin Kuranyi, who had wrapped up warm despite the sunny weather and trained wearing a cap, track-suit bottoms and a thick jacket.

Marcelo Bordon was also given the green light. After pulling out of yesterday's session with head coach Mirko Slomka's blessing due to a groin problem, he reported fit again on Friday and was one of the last to leave the training ground. This also applied to Lincoln, who had been ruled out by muscular problem. The Brazilian stayed behind after the session to take a few free-kicks with Dennis Lamczyk in goal. Levan Kobiashvili also looked fully fit and agile after recovering from a toe injury and is ready to play on Saturday.

The first visible signs of progress in Gerald Asamoah's return to fitness were also in evidence on Friday. The Germany international has been out of action since the end of September after breaking his leg in Nancy. Asamoah began by warming up with his team-mates and then did some work on the ball for over an hour under the supervision of fitness and rehab coach Christos Papadopoulos.

Schalke's meticulous preparations for the match in Wolfsburg were underlined by the fact that as well as using the balls provided by kit supplier Adidas the players also trained with the type of ball that will be used on Saturday.

**Trim** · 17-02-2007, 03:29 PM

HT' Wolfsburg 0-2 Schalke (11', 29' Kuranyi)

**Trim** · 17-02-2007, 05:01 PM

FT' Wolfsburg 2-2 Schalke (11', 29' Kuranyi / 56, 89' Klimowicz)

**Trim** · 17-02-2007, 05:02 PM

Klimowitz managed to score twice in the second half to equalise everything... Schalke dropped 2 points in this match, as they could easily have taken all 3 points.

**Trim** · 17-02-2007, 05:39 PM

VS

MD 23: FC Schalke 04 - Bayer Leverkusen
Stadium: VELTINS-Arena, Gelsenkirchen
Date: Sunday, 25th Feb, 17:00 C.E.T. (GMT +1)

Quick Schalke stats
Current League Form: WWWWD

Schalke failed to make 7 consecutive wins after drawing 2-2 against Wolfburg. They'll face Leverkusen, which lost their last game 1-0 against Hannover. Will Schalke win this match? Or will Leverkusen make a come back and win? We shall see on Sunday..

**Oliver_Kahn** · 18-02-2007, 04:14 PM

I thought Schalke would overcome Wolfsburg with ease, but didn't happen.

Will this be the start of Schalke's crisis ?

**Trim** · 18-02-2007, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Will this be the start of Schalke's crisis ?

Hopefully..

**Trim** · 18-02-2007, 08:18 PM

The Royal Blues had to settle for a point in Wolfsburg after conceding the equaliser with a minute left to play. It was an unfortunate end to the game for Mirko Slomka's men, who had gone ahead thanks to two first-half strikes from Kevin Kuranyi (11' and 29'), only to be pulled back as Diego Klimowicz found the net twice after the break (57' and 89'). Things were made worse by the loss of Levan Kobiashvili to suspension and Peter Lovenkrands, who sustained a ligament injury.

Although the late equaliser was annoying, Slomka was unwilling to attach to much importance to the draw in the context of his side's objectives for the season. "We're still top and are five points in front of the team in second", he said. The Schalke boss felt the 28,346 fans had seen a game of two contrasting halves, and as such was able to live with the draw: "We've picked up a point away from home. Sometimes you have to be happy with that."

Slomka made just one change to the team that beat Hertha BSC Berlin 2-0 last week, bringing in Halil Altintop for the injured Gustavo Varela (cruciate ligament tear). And the Royal Blues carried on where they left off against Hertha. Schalke controlled the proceedings from the outset. Fabian Ernst and Zlatan won a lot of possession in defensive midfield and were quick to get the ball forward. "We dominated the game during this phase and deserved to go 2-0 up", said Slomka. "We had set out to defend solidly and launch rapid counterthrusts, a strategy that worked well before the interval."

Wolfsburg had little to offer in the first half and were forced to resort to long balls upfield that were easy meat for the Schalke defence. Marcelinho was largely anonymous. Only once was the Brazilian able to make his presence felt, slipping a neat through ball to Klimowicz, who was denied by Manuel Neuer (44').

The Royal Blues played some attracting passing football in the opening stages and deservedly went ahead after 11 minutes when Kuranyi headed home a Lovenkrands free-kick. And the Germany front man struck again 18 minutes later with a crisp drive from close range to ma