Domenico Tedesco looking forward to seeing old faces

The head coach makes no secret of the fact that this match will be a special one for him. “I made a lot of friendships during my time in Aue that have lasted until today, and I am really looking forward to seeing these friends again. The same goes from the boys from my team there and hopefully a lot of fans,” said the 32-year-old, who took over at FCE on 8th March 2017 when the club were bottom of the 2. Bundesliga and led them to safety.

Fingers crossed during relegation play-off

Tedesco’s close bond with the club continued following his move to Schalke in July 2017. Whilst leading S04 to finishing as runners up in the Bundesliga, he also had his fingers crossed for his former club, who were found themselves in the relegation play-off after finishing 16th in the table. The 32-year-old was in attendance for both the away match in Karlsruhe as well as the second leg at the Erzgebirgsstadion and was one of the first to congratulate the players after securing safety.

This emphasises that Tedesco has not forgotten the huge chance his old club gave him. “FC Erzgebirge Aue were in a very difficult situation at the time and it required courage to bout their trust in a 31-year-old non-professional coach during this period. But I was received incredibly affectionately and openly, not only at the club but also in the whole area. I will never forget that,” described Tedesco.

Aue close to start of competitive season

Apart from Tedesco’s journey back through his own past, this is also a highly-anticipated fixture as part of both sides’ pre-season preparations. The German second division has traditionally played out its opening fixture before the top flight and FCE will start the 2018/2019 league season as early as Sunday (05/08). That is why the opposition will be up for it as they bring their pre-season to an end.

Whether or not Tedesco will make ten or even eleven changes during the break at the Erzgebirgsstadion as he has done in Schalke’s previous friendlies is something he has not yet decided on. “We need to see exactly how we are going to go about it,” he explained. “But I do think that we will give a lot of the boys a chance to show what they can do once again before we then head to our final training camp.