Bundesliga Preview: VfL Wolfsburg – Schalke 04
Wolfsburg look to maintain their push for a top three finish when they entertain a manager-less Schalke at the Volkswagen Arena this weekend…
Felix Magath goes head-to-head with under-fire Schalke trainer Fred Rutten on Saturday with both trainers needing three points for wholly different reasons.
Wolves Head The Pack
Just like last season Wolfsburg are enjoying a highly impressive second-half of the campaign. Last time around under the guidance of the wily Felix Magath, the ‘Wolves’ climbed to fifth in the table following a run of form following the winter break to beat both Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart to a UEFA Cup spot.
History looks to be repeating itself this season and Magath’s side, inspired by the goals of Edin Dzeko and Grafite have manoeuvred themselves into joint second place with 11 games to go. Magath is desisting talk of the Bundesliga title, but on this form anything is possible.
A Champions League place though would be seen as a massive success for the club, who set themselves the target of finishing fifth at the start of the season.
Since the Bundesliga restarted following the traditional winter break at the start of February, Wolfsburg have gone unbeaten in the league (five wins and a draw). A heavy loss to Werder Bremen in the DFB Pokal and a disappointing exit from the UEFA Cup at the hands of Paris St.Germain hasn’t really affected them in the league.
They inflicted Hamburg with their first home defeat of the season two weeks ago, but also showed last week against Karlsruhe that they are able to grind out a win even when not playing at their best.
The reverse fixture earlier in the season at the Veltins Arena very nearly saw Wolfsburg take all three points, but Felix Magath’s side were held to a point after leading 2-0 going into stoppage time with a 93rd minute equaliser from Kevin Kuranyi.
Mueller Gone, Rutten To Follow?
Schalke general manager Andreas Mueller finally paid for the club’s mediocre season this week by losing his job. That’s life in football and when the performance on the pitch doesn’t match up to the high expectations from the board and fans, there is usually somebody who gets the finger of blame pointed at them.
The removal of Mueller perhaps won’t have much of an effect in the short-term other than to perhaps inspire a few of the players to raise their game.
Schalke currently occupy eighth place in the league and it’s fair to say that the Koenigsblauen are not as bad as their lowly position portrays. They actually have the best defence in the league having only conceded 21 goals this season. They are five points behind the chasing pack, all on 42 points.
If they could create more chances, then the club would be in a much healthier position and the critics wouldn’t be on their case so much.
Last week’s win over Koeln was a case in point. Fred Rutten’s side dominated the first-half and deservedly went in 1-0 up even though they could and should have scored more. They were unable to find a second and were very nearly punished by Koeln who had a much better second-half and perhaps deserved a share of the spoils.
Three points away at Wolfsburg would see a few happier faces at the club and hold out a glimmer of hope that the Koenigsblauen could have an outside chance of making it into the top five.
FORM GUIDE
Wolfsburg
07/03/09 VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 Karlsruhe (Bundesliga)
04/03/09 VfL Wolfsburg 2-5 Werder Bremen (DFB Pokal)
01/03/09 Hamburg 1-3 VfL Wolfsburg (Bundesliga)
26/02/09 VfL Wolfsburg 1-3 Paris St.Germain (UEFA Cup)
21/02/09 VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 Hertha Berlin (Bundesliga)
Schalke
06/03/09 Schalke 1-0 Koeln (Bundesliga)
03/03/09 Mainz 1-0 Schalke (DFB Pokal)
28/02/09 Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 Schalke (Bundesliga)
20/03/09 Schalke 1-1 Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga)
14/02/9 VfL Bochum 2-1 Schalke (Bundesliga)
TEAM NEWS
Wolfsburg
Sascha Riether is the only real injury worry for Wolfsburg. Makoto Hasebe and Ashkan Dejagah are poised to fill in.
Probable Starting XI: Benaglio, Petarik, Simunek, Barzagli, Schaefer, Josue, Riether, Gentner, Misimovic, Grafite, Dzeko
Schalke
The signs are that Fred Rutten will send out the same side that beat Koeln last week because captain Marcelo Bordon is still not able to take his place in the starting XI. Having suffered a hand injury, the Brazilian defender now has a knee problem.
Probable Starting XI: Neuer, Rafinha, Hoewedes, Krstajic, Kobiashvili, Jones, Westermann, Rakitic, Farfan, Kuranyi, Sanchez
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Wolfsburg-Edin Dzeko
The Bosnian is one of the in-form strikers in Europe at the moment having hit the back of the net seven times in his last five games. Alongside Brazilian Grafite he is forming one of the most potent strike partnerships in the Bundesliga and Wolfsburg are going to need him to keep hitting the back of the net if their challenge for Champions League football is to be maintained.
Schalke-Kevin Kuranyi
There have been yet more rumours this week linking Kevin Kuranyi with a move away from Schalke. In the January transfer window it was Everton, and it seems that Russian outfit Lokomotiv Moscow want the former German international. The 27-year-old has stressed his desire to stay at the Veltins Arena and prove himself, and the best way to do that will be with a few goals this weekend against Wolfsburg.
PREDICTION
The Bundesliga’s best defence comes up against one of the most in-form front lines, so something has to give. Schalke responded to the sacking of Mirko Slomka last season with a 5-0 win over Cottbus, but it is hard to imagine a similar response to the departure of Andreas Mueller. I’m going to predict a draw.
VfL Wolfsburg 1-1 Schalke
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