S04 arrive in Moscow with optimism

Christian Heidel’s anticipation for the Champions League clash with Lokomotiv Moscow is increasing as the clash draws closer. After all, Wednesday’s match against the Russian champions is his first ever away fixture in Europe’s elite club competition.

Heidel: We want to start a positive run of results

“I’m looking forward to the match. Moscow is a great city and the Champions League is an attractive competition,” said S04’s sporting director. At the same time, Heidel know that his Schalke have a tough task waiting for them. “We have watched Lokomotiv’s game against Galatasaray and although they lost 3-0, the result didn’t reflect how the game turned out. Lokomotiv’s attack is especially impressive,” said Heidel. A key member of the Lokomotiv attack is former Schalke attacker Jefferson Farfan.

The Russian champions have another former Royal-Blues player in the heart of their defence, Benedikt Höwedes. Regarding the reunion of former captain Höwedes with the club, Heidel believes “these are special stories which are written by football.” However, there hasn’t been any contact between Heidel and Höwedes ahead of the match.

The Royal-Blues are fully focused on take a positive result out of tomorrow night’s match in the RZD-Arena. “We want to turn the tables and start a positive run of results,” emphasises Heidel. “Our Bundesliga defeat have burdened us, the result have been engrained in our thoughts. That’s completely normal. That’s why it was good to finally celebrate a victory against Mainz on Saturday. You cannot buy this sense of achievement. Now it is all about building on that victory both here in Moscow and then in Düsseldorf at the weekend.” S04 will not have Amine Harit (thigh injury) nor Alessandro Schöpf (infection) available for the match and neither player flew with the squad to Russia.

Sané: We feel good after the Mainz victory

“The victory over Mainz was very important to us. We feel good to finally have three points on the board,” said Salif Sané who shares the same opinion as Heidel. “We all felt relieved after the final whistle and we travelled to Moscow with confidence.” The defender is also feeling confident for the showdown with ‘Loko’ and the Senegalese knows “they are a good team.” Domenico Tedesco’s side have made themselves familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the Russian champions ahead of tomorrow night. “I don’t want to talk too much about our opponents. We have to show our qualities and seal the deal to get something out of the match,” said Sané.