Baum updates on personnel and approach to #S04B04

Salif Sané, Goncalo Paciencia, Rabbi Matondo and Ahmed Kutucu will definitely be out of action. As for defensive duo Bastian Oczipka and Ozan Kabak, the situation is not yet certain – the same is true for both goalkeepers, Frederik Rönnow and Ralf Fährmann. „It’s a race against time,“ said Baum: „I can’t say yet who will be on the pitch and who won’t be.“

Should both goalkeepers be unable to play, Michael Langer is prepared to step in. The experienced goalkeeper may not have played a competitive game for two and a half years, but the head coach would have no concerns about naming the Austrian shotstopper in his starting XI. Baum: „To say Michi is only important for team spirit would be doing him a disservice. He trains very well and his heart beats for Schalke. He desperately wants the team to climb off rock bottom. Michi shows this desire every day both on and off the pitch.“

The rest of the team had also been very focussed on the task at hand, reported the 41-year-old. „The lads are pushing hard,“ said Baum. Obviously the team was disheartened after the loss in Mönchengladbach, but „the most important thing is that the team spends the week building up the belief that we can go into the next game and have a chance of winning. We’ve managed to do that this week as well.“

Werkself still unbeaten

Baum and his coaching colleagues have put Bayer Leverkusen – still unbeaten this season – and all their strengths under the microscope. „Leverkusen have great stability this season. They, like us, have a lot of players missing with injuries, but they have some great strength in depth,“ said Baum.

Baum, however, was also able to spot one or two weaknesses. „We’ve identified certain ways in which we need to control the game in order to keep our chances of winning the game alive,“ he explained, without revealing any specifics.