Treat the game like a final

Preview to the DFB-Pokal quarter-final
Werder want to use their momentum and win in Schalke (Photo: nordphoto).
First Team
Tuesday, 02.04.2019 / 18:37

Schalke seem to be an opponent that Werder don’t mind facing this season, having beaten them twice already in the Bundesliga. The Green-Whites play Schalke for the third time this season in the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday evening. “It’s difficult to compare a Bundesliga game to a cup game. It’s a final that we have to win if we want to get to Berlin. And we want to get to Berlin,” said Florian Kohfeldt on the game.

Previous meeting: Werder fans won’t have fond memories of 19th April 2005. Werder and Schalke drew 1-1 in the DFB-Pokal and the game went into extra time. Tim Borowski put Werder in front in the 94th minute before former Werder player Ailton scored the equaliser shortly afterwards (96’). It took 14 penalties to find a winner, when Fabian Ernst missed and Frank Rost scored the winning spot-kick for Schalke. 14 years later, Werder will be looking for revenge.

 

Florian Kohfeldt is looking forward to the game against Schalke (Photo: nordphoto).

The boss on the game: Florian Kohfeldt spoke about how much he’s looking forward to the game in his press conference, emphasising how strong Schalke are in attack. “Mark Uth and Breel Embolo have a lot of individual quality and we have to be awake,” he said. The boss also added that “We shouldn’t change our playing style but we should play with greater precision. Every chance has to feel like it’s the last, and with this, we have to take them.”

Squad news: Fin Bartels is out for the cup game at Schalke after missing the last few weeks of training with a muscle injury. “The healing process is going very well and we don’t need to starting panicking that he’s out long term,” said Kohfeldt. Philipp Bargfrede also is not fit for the game. Apart from the pair, Florian Kohfeldt has a full squad to choose from. Claudio Pizarro could be available for the game.

The opponents: FC Schalke 04 have not been performing as they would have liked this season. The side finished second last season and took part in the Champions League this year, but currently find themselves in a relegation battle. However, they’ve managed to put some distance between themselves and the drop zone after parting company with Domenico Tedesco, appointing Huub Stevens and beating Hannover 96 1-0 at the weekend. Schalke will be going into the cup game with some new-found confidence.

Breel Embolo put Schalke 1-0 up in the Weserstadion earlier this season (Photo: nordphoto)

Key player: Breel Embolo signed for Schalke in summer 2016 and the forward has been out for most of this season with a serious injury, playing just 13 times in the Bundesliga. However, Embolo has still scored goals and showed how dangerous he is in Bremen last month, scoring two against Werder. The 22-year-old has five goals in all competitions this season. He hasn’t scored in the cup this season – something that Werder will want to maintain tonight.

The officials: Deniz Aytekin is the referee for the game. The last Werder game that he took charge of was the 3-1 win in Leverkusen earlier this season. The linesmen are Christian Dietz and Eduard Beitinger and the fourth official is Benedikt Kempkes. The video assistant referees are Benjamin Brand and Michael Bacher.

 
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