Bundesliga Preview: Werder Bremen – Schalke 04

The title looks to have squirmed away for good this time, but with just six points separating second and eighth in the table, Schalke and Bremen know Champions League football is still up for grabs. The winners on Saturday will be firm favourites to return to the European big time.

On-Going Problems At Schalke

Schalke are second in the table and progressed further in this year’s Champions League than ever before. You’d think there would be smiles all round at the Veltins Arena – there are not.

Schalke have hardly been convincing in this season’s domestic campaign, and their rise to second in the standings owes less to outstanding performances and more to gritty wins and the wobbles of those around them (something that’s also allowed Bayern Munich to form a nine-point lead at the top having been level pegging at the start of February).

Make no mistake: for a club whose budget is comfortably the second largest in Germany, Schalke’s fans and senior bosses feel the club should be achieving more. Unless you count Germany’s pre-season league cup, this will be their sixth consecutive season without a major trophy.

Coach Mirko Slomka’s time is almost certainly up, with the dressing room far from a picture of happiness, and it has become clear that a massive personnel clearout is needed too, with too many shoddy performers and mistake purchases in the ranks.

There’s no shame in bowing out of Europe to Barcelona, but in reality the Catalan giants were shaky and there for the taking. The chances Schalke created were wasted; the dream has ended. One goal in four games in all competitions hardly makes for great reading.

Four wins in five in the Bundesliga, meanwhile, is encouraging, but against a free-flowing attacking side like Werder Bremen two things are clear: firstly, Schalke will almost certainly need to score to salvage a result against the league’s top scorers. Secondly, if they can’t find the net against a defence as poor as Bremen’s they have real problems.

Can Bremen Build On Hertha Win?

Unlike their opponents, who had to play in Spain on Wednesday night before travelling up to Bremen in time for Saturday, Werder have had a whole week to prepare for this crunch encounter. Last week’s hard-fought 2-1 victory at Hertha Berlin saw a departure from the traditional Bremen gung-ho style of football, with Thomas Schaaf’s side often dogged and sometimes looking laboured.

But ends justify means and after a wretched run of one point from four league matches and a UEFA Cup exit to Rangers Werder finally returned to winning ways. The slump was costly – there will be no more talk of titles this year and even finishing in the top three can not be assumed – but now the Green-and-Whites must focus on piecing together a winning run.

Last week in Berlin, Werder stunned the 60,000 home crowd with a goal after just 39 seconds, and though none of their players were close to reaching the heights of the Hinrunde encouragement could be taken from the newfound ability to play poorly and win – a quality Bremen have patently lacked in recent years.

“Perhaps we took Duisburg too lightly,” commented the recently returned Torsten Frings to Kicker after last weekend’s game. “But against Hertha we gave everything once again. For that reason I’m positive about the future,” added the German international, terming the Berlin win “a step forward.”

Another step forward against Schalke would propel Werder back into the Champions League spots and given the Königsblauen’s midweek exploits the Green-and-Whites know there could hardly be a better time to play them.

FORM GUIDE

Bremen

Match	Result	Date	Championship
Hertha BSC – Werder Bremen	1 – 2	05/04/2008	BUNDESLIGA
Werder Bremen – MSV Duisburg	1 – 2	29/03/2008	BUNDESLIGA
Arminia Bielefeld – Werder Bremen	1 – 1	23/03/2008	BUNDESLIGA
Werder Bremen – VfL Wolfsburg	0 – 1	16/03/2008	BUNDESLIGA
Werder Bremen – Rangers	1 – 0	13/03/2008	UEFA CUP
VfB Stuttgart – Werder Bremen	6 – 3	08/03/2008	BUNDESLIGA

Schalke

Match	Result	Date	Championship
Barcelona – Schalke 04	1 – 0	09/04/2008	CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Schalke 04 – Hansa Rostock	1 – 0	05/04/2008	BUNDESLIGA
Schalke 04 – Barcelona	0 – 1	01/04/2008	CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Karlsruher SC – Schalke 04	0 – 0	29/03/2008	BUNDESLIGA
Hertha BSC – Schalke 04	1 – 2	23/03/2008	BUNDESLIGA
Schalke 04 – MSV Duisburg	2 – 1	14/03/2008	BUNDESLIGA

TEAM NEWS

Bremen

Bremen have no new injury worries and Thomas Schaaf looks likely to name the same XI who won last weekend. Sebastian Boenisch, Pierre Womé and Daniel Jensen remain injured.

Likely XI (4-4-2 diamond): Wiese – Fritz, Mertesacker, Naldo, Pasanen – Baumann – Frings, Borowski – Diego – Rosenberg, Klasnic

Schalke

Georgia international Levan Kobiashvili suffered an adductor muscle problem in Barcelona and is doubtful for this game. Grossmüller will probably fill in though a fit again Christian Pander is pushing for a recall. Mirko Slomka looks set to persist with all three strikers, as in Barcelona in midweek, playing Halil Altintop in the attacking midfield role.

Likely XI (4-4-2 diamond): Neuer – Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Westermann – Ernst – Jones, Grossmüller – Altintop – Asamoah, Kuranyi

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Bremen – Diego

The Brazilian put in some tremendous displays earlier in the season, but since Christmas he’s also demonstrated far too often his inability to handle physical opponents, at times even lashing out at them. Against Schalke’s midfield hardmen Ernst and Jones Diego could have problems – can he rise above them?

Schalke – Jermaine Jones (pictured)

Many questioned whether the former Frankfurt man would make it at Schalke upon his free transfer to the Veltins-Arena last season. But far from being another utility man, Jones has established himself as a midfield regular and one of Schalke’s key players. He was undoubtedly their star in midweek against Barcelona and he’ll be crucial again in cutting out Bremen’s attacking game.

source: goal.com

Bundesliga Weekend Preview: Round 28

Bayern Munich extended their lead at the top of the table to nine points last weekend and take them a step closer to the league title.  Behind them the race for the other European places has hotted up with Schalke grabbing second spot and Leverkusen dropping out of the top five.

Friday 11th April (all times local)

20:30 Nürnberg – Wolfsburg

Saturday 12th April

15:30 Werder Bremen – Schalke

15:30 Bochum – Hertha Berlin

15:30 Energie Cottbus – Arminia Bielefeld

15:30 Hannover – Eintracht Frankfurt

15:30 Karlsruhe – Hansa Rostock

15:30 Hamburg – Duisburg

Sunday 13th April

17:00 Bayern Munich – Borussia Dortmund

17:00 Bayer Leverkusen – Stuttgart

Nürnberg – Wolfsburg

With just seven games left things are really getting desperate for Nürnberg as they strive for their Bundesliga survival.  Last season’s Cup winners have had an awful season, but the signs have been there in recent weeks that ‘der Klub’ have what it takes to stay up.

A valiant effort at home against Bayern Munich could have brought them a win such was the level of their performance, but that long awaited first win for Thomas von Heesen came last weekend with a 3-1 away win at Frankfurt.

Wolfsburg will be looking to keep up their push on the European places as the form side in the second half of the season.  Felix Magath’s side are only two points off a European qualification spot and a win against Nürnberg would put them in the top five, albeit temporarily until the weekend’s matches are completed.

Werder Bremen – Schalke

The battle for those all-important Champions League places hots up on Saturday with Werder Bremen and Schalke clashing at the Weser Stadion.  The Green and Whites got themselves back on track last weekend with a win against Hertha Berlin after three losses and a draw in their previous four matches.  Whether that recovery is a short-lived one will be seen on Saturday with the arrival of Schalke.

Things are becoming increasingly tight at the top with just three points separating second from fifth, so three points on Saturday will be vital for both sides.

Schalke have taken the initiative in recent weeks with four wins in their last five Bundesliga matches taking them up to second in the table.  How much of a toll their midweek Champions League exertions will have taken from them remains to be seen, but if they can reproduce the sort of form they showed in the first half at the Nou Camp, then Werder are going to have a real game on their hands.

Bochum – Hertha Berlin

A meeting of two mid-table sides takes place at the rewirpower Stadion as Bochum take on Hertha Berlin.  Marcell Koller’s side went down to a 3-1 defeat to Bayern last weekend despite going a goal ahead and playing the majority of the game with a man advantage.  They are however very difficult to beat at home and are unbeaten in their last eight home matches.

Hertha have slumped to 13th in the table which is a little too close to the drop zone for many fans’ liking.  The introduction of Lucien Favre as trainer this season has not really had the desired effect, so the capital club will be looking to finish the season with a few wins in order to push themselves up the table.

Energie Cottbus – Arminia Bielefeld

Both Cottbus and Bielefeld will be looking for three points to take themselves further clear of the releagtion zone and secure their Bundesliga survival for another year.

The two sides currently occupy the two places above the bottom three so could easily be sucked into the drop zone should they lose a couple of games.  The winners of this game will take a huge step towards the safety zone.

Michael Frontzeck grabbed his first win as Bielefeld trainer last week against Karlsruhe so will be confident, but so too will be Cottbus who have grabbed all three points in three of their last four games in the Bundesliga.

Hannover – Eintracht Frankfurt

Although Hannover have nothing to play for this season, being out of the hunt for European places and clear of the relegation zone, trainer Dieter Hecking will be impressing upon his players the need for a strong finish to the season.  However with only one win in their last ten Bundesliga matches confidence isn’t exactly at an all-time high at the AWD Arena.

Eintracht Frankfurt still have an outside chance of European qualification this season, but will have to finish the season extremely strongly in order to achieve it.  The ‚Adler’ went down to a shock 3-1 defeat last weekend at home to Nürnberg in a game more memorable for the crowd trouble.

Karlsruhe – Hansa Rostock

Karlsruhe’s season has taken the downturn that many thought it would have done much earlier in the season recently.  They now sit ninth having looked for so long as though they were a genuine contender for a Uefa Cup place next season.

The surprise team of the season have only taken two points from their last five matches and are suffering their worst run of form of the season so far.  Hansa on the other hand are also in abit of a rut with three consecutive defeats taking them back into the bottom three.  So yet again, three points are vital for both sides at this business end of the season.

Hamburg – Duisburg

If HSV are to have real designs on Champions League football next season, then a home win over relegation threatened Duisburg is a must.  However, the fact that the Zebras will be fighting tooth and nail for survival with provide Hamburg with a tougher match than it looks on paper.

The Zebras are currently bottom of the table but will be looking for a repeat of the result they achieved on their last visit to North Germany, when they beat Werder Bremen at the Weser Stadion.

Bayern Munich – Borussia Dortmund

Sunday sees a dress rehearsal for next weekend’s German Cup final with Bayern hosting Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena.

The home side will still be pinching themselves that they managed to squeeze through in their Uefa Cup quarter final tie with Getafe, and it remains to be seen what that has taken out of the Bayern side ahead of this Sunday’s clash.

Dortmund continue to entertain with their matches, which generally sees goals at both ends.  Last weekend’s last-gasp win over Leverkusen will have given them confidence, but the most important game for BVB comes the following Saturday at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

Bayer Leverkusen – Stuttgart

The final match of the weekend sees Bayer Leverkusen taking on last season’s champions in a key match with regards European qualification.  The home side were dumped out of the Uefa Cup on Thursday by Zenit St Petersburg despite a 1-0 second leg win.

They currently lie 6th which means they will not even qualify for the Uefa Cup if things don’t change so Sunday’s game is vital in the grand scheme of things for Michael Skibbe’s side.

Stuttgart on the other hand are poised to rescue an abject season by potentially qualifying for Europe when for so long it seemed as though a mid-table finish would be an achievement for Armin Veh’s side.

source: goal.com

Borowski fit and motivated for Schalke

Having been forced out of full team training for the last couple of days due to a muscular problem with his left thigh, Tim Borowski returned to the Werder fold on Thursday and was able to complete the full training session: “It’s going well”, remarked the relieved midfielder after the session and his availability for Saturday’s game is now no longer in doubt.

And that’s just as well! Tim Borowski, along with Frank Baumann, Ivan Klasnic and Petri Pasanen, was one of the four remaining players who took part for Werder the last time they beat the ‘Royal Blues’ – 1:0 with a goal scored by Nelson Valdez. The current situation sees both sides locked in battle to take one of the Champions League qualifying places.

With that in mind, Borowski emphasised just how important it is to follow up their recent step in the right direction with a win against Schalke: “Sure we achieved something against Hertha but we need to continue now where we left off. That win only carries half its value if we drop points here.”

The German international took note of Schalke’s recent performance in Barcelona: “They played very well in the first half and we will need to be wary of that”, warned ‘Boro who went on to say: “They are very opponent oriented, which means a lot more mobility will be necessary on our behalf”.

source: werder.de