Freiburg, Schalke clash for UCL spot
Posted Saturday, May 18, 2013 by Foxsports.com
There will be nothing downbeat about Freiburg's clash with Schalke at the Dreisamstadion with a Champions League spot at stake.
The stakes have never been higher for Freiburg, who could qualify for the Champions League for the first time by beating the more seasoned European participants.
"I am going to Freiburg with a lot of optimism and confidence," said Schalke's director of sport Horst Heldt, whose side merely need to avoid defeat to secure fourth place.
"If somebody had told me weeks or months ago that we would have control over our own destiny on the final day of the season to finish fourth, then I would have signed for that immediately.
"We are not dependent on results elsewhere and that's good.
"Of course we would have liked to have wrapped things up against Stuttgart already, but on the other hand, I am sure there are plenty of Bundesliga clubs who would love to be in our shoes now."
Heldt is not taking his side's task lightly, however.
"I have a great deal of respect for what Freiburg have achieved," he said on his club's website.
"They have been amazing this season. They also have a chance to qualify for the Champions League."
Not that the home team's coach Christian Streich is thinking about that too much.
"We want to give Schalke a really good battle and throw everything into the mixer to play another great game," he said.
"This team will get every last ounce of energy out of them for this game."
Daniel Caligiuri, who leaves Freiburg in the summer, will not get the chance to bid farewell to Freiburg from the field of play since he is suspended while Pavel Krmas and Marco Terrazzino are ruled out injured.
Only long-term injury absentees Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Ibrahim Afellay and Chinedu Obasi are unavailable for Schalke coach Jens Keller.
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