Matija Nastasic: We are on the right path

The defender is pleased with the way that the team is currently training. “I think we are on the right path. We are currently improving on the things that didn’t go so well in the first half of the season”, reported Nastasic.

The 25-year-old feels that one reason for the poor start to the season so far was the mental state of the players. “Some defeats were certainly because of our minds. I think we were thinking too much about things on the pitch, especially in those five games we lost at the beginning,” he stated.

Perform well in every game

“You will obviously start to lose confidence if you are not scoring any goals and not winning games,” stated the left-footed defender.

Nastasic believes a good training camp will back up the positive mood in camp ahead of the start of the second half of the season. The squad hasn’t set themselves a clear aim for the rest of the campaign though. “Our only aim is to perform well in every game so that we can win more points. We will then see how far we have got after that,” explained the Serb.

Excited to face his former teammates

One match where the side will have to put in a special performance is the Champions League last 16 tie against Manchester City, Nastasic’s former side. “I wasn’t very pleased right after the draw,” he revealed, “as for me, Manchester City are the best side in the Europe right now.”

After the draw had sunk in, Nastasic was happy with it. “I will see a number of familiar faces again. Out of the current side, I only played with Sergio Agüero, Fernandinho, Vincent Kompany and David Silva, as well as Leroy Sané here, but I will also recognise plenty of the backroom staff.”

The match against the English champions will be a very hard test for Schalke. “Anything is possible though,” said Nastasic. “If we didn’t believe in ourselves then we wouldn’t even bother turning up.“