Champions League - Chelsea vs Schalke 04

rwo power wrote:Indeed. I wonder if Jens Keller did something bad in his past life and karma now catches up with him. -_-

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That or the training ground cook has gone rogue -

Wow, I have no idea how Schalke will line up now.

Have to take advantage of this situation.


Run up GD pls

I have a feeling Costa will start. If that is the case, we'll romp them.

I do too, even though, as we discussed yesterday, I'd like to see Rémy given the nod.

So, Costa Hatrick, Cesc hatrick and Hazard hattrick.

9 0 win?

Didier Drogba is not expected to return from an ankle injury in time to make his second Champions League debut for Chelsea.

Drogba missed Chelsea’s victory against Swansea City with a swollen right ankle and is unlikely to be risked for the first Champions League Group G game against Schalke.

Drogba’s ankle problem is not thought to be serious and the 36-year-old hopes to play again soon.

— via the Telegraph
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Meh, we'll be fine with Remy and Costa.

Obviously. Though I may have liked to see Drog come on at some point in the second half. With the defence they're likely to have out there, it might have been a good opportunity for him to bag his
first goal back

One possible line-up for Schalke with all the injuries (and Höwedes out) could be:

Is Howedes out confirmed then, rwo? Or just going by the report from earlier?

Wow, only decent defender is Aogo, no chance of Hoger or Neustadter playing in CB?

Welll, Marco Höger and Roman Neustädter are the only proper DMs left (other than KPB, but KPB hasn't really been convincing lately at all).

As for Benedikt Höwedes - he might be able to play, but atm it is unlikely, so it might be wise to plan without him.

Here you can see the squad and who's out atm:
http://www.transfermarkt.de/jumplist/startseite/verein/33
(The little red bag with the white cross next to the names denotes that the player is injured)

Jesus


There are practically as many players with red bags next their names as without

I suppose they'll have to play a youth player regardless.

Their youth side also plays ours tomorrow at 1pm BST live on CTV, just as a quick aside

Will be interesting to see who plays for them and who is left to the first team.

@Kick:

Yeah. Kaan Ayhan will definitely play as he already has some matches with the team proper. I guess Jens Keller might take one or the other additional player from Schalke II along, too.

Marvin Friedrich would normally play for the UEFA U19, but he will be needed with the senior squad.

@Shed:

Well, I guess that should put any possibly bad performance by Schalke in London into perspective. ^^

Who should really be relishing all of this isn't us but Sporting. Real opportunity for them should Schalke's injury woes continue.

Very much so, their matches against Schalke become Key.

Well, hopefully at least some players will recover until the Sporting matches ^^

Kick wrote:Very much so, their matches against Schalke become Key.

An opening match against Maribor will provide a good opportunity to potentially put a decent GD advantage on the board, especially considering it could go exactly the opposite way for Schalke in our match.

Benedikt Höwedes didn't fly to London with Schalke today, but instead made a visit in München to see Dr.Müller-Wohlfahrt to get a second opinion about his injury (something with his hip from a collision at the end of the BMG-S04 match). So it looks very unlikely that he will be able to play.

Wouldve been nice if FIFA GOAT Max Meyer were available

Max Meyer has the flu.  It would be too risky to let him play as virus infections can ruin the heart if they are not properly healed.