Domenico Tedesco: “Underline the fact that we deserve to be in the last 16”

“In the Champions League, we’ve played well four times and very badly once,” said Tedesco on the first five games of the group stage. On Tuesday, it’ll be about representing the club and the Bundesliga in the best way possible once again.

The Schalke head coach also suggested that there could be some forced changes from the 2-1 derby loss at the weekend. Guido Burgstaller, who was subbed off injured after 36 minutes against BVB, won’t be available for the game. Steven Skrzybski is also unavailable, and it’s still too soon for Cedric Teuchert to think about playing 90 minutes. However, injuries can also provide chances to other players in the squad. “Ahmed Kutucu will definitely be in the squad. Ahmed is someone who always wants the ball and get forward. He can play up top, but he also plays quite well in midfield,” said Tedesco. Kutucu has been causing quite a stir in the U19 team recently. “He’s got great character and he’s earned the chance to get a few minutes under his belt,” added Tedesco.

Still not thinking about Augsburg

Tedesco made clear that rotating the side wouldn’t make the game unimportant, even though Schalke are already guaranteed second place in Group D: “We need a certain freshness, the boys have put a lot in. We definitely want to win the game, and the Augsburg game on Saturday isn’t playing a role. We’ve got enough time to freshen up before then,” said the Schalke head coach.

Despite the upcoming game against Moscow, Schalke still have the defeat against BVB in the back of their minds: “Every defeat hurts, but a derby loss hurts even more. I have to be the engine and push the boys. We have to roll up our sleeves and go full throttle,” said Tedesco. The boss also added that he “completely understands” the critics following Schalke’s poor start to the Bundesliga season: “We have to accept our current situation and I’ll face that.”

The Champions League game on Tuesday will also be significant for another reason, as Schalke come up against two former players. “The fans haven’t forgotten Jefferson Farfan and Benedikt Höwedes’ performances. I’m sure that it’ll be nice for the two of them as well. Höwedes was captain and an outstanding player for years. Farfan was a very strong finisher. We have to try to defend against them as well as possible,” added Tedesco.

After the game in Russia at the start of October, Tedesco mentioned how strong Lokomotiv were defensively: “They defended well and were very focussed on not letting anything happen. We have to be just as good as we were in this game, if not better.”