Steaua Bucharest vs Schalke preview - Schalke closing in on last 16

Posted Tuesday, November 26, 2013 by PA

Schalke can book their place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday night, but they face a Steaua Bucharest side who are aware this is a make-or-break match in the Romanian capital.

Victory for the Royal Blues combined with a Chelsea win over Basle would take the Bundesliga side through along with the London outfit, and that is the objective for their trip to Bucharest.

"We want our ticket for the last 16 as quickly as we can get it," captain Benedikt Howedes said prior to departure.

"That's why we want to wrap it up already in Bucharest."

If they fail to pick up that win, they will still have a last chance to qualify when they host Basle in their last group game with even defeat not taking their destiny out of their own hands.

"It's not an all-or-nothing game," Howedes added on his club's website. "There's always another game to be played, but of course we want to get the three points."

Howedes says his side must improve on their weekend performance, when they threw away a 2-0 lead at Eintracht Frankfurt and only just managed to scrape a 3-3 draw.

"We're going to have to give it our utmost, every single one of us," the Germany international said.

"We know it's not going to be a walk in the park. We saw in the reverse fixture that they have quality."

Injured goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand and midfielder Leon Goretzka have both been left behind in Germany, but coach Jens Keller otherwise has his full squad to pick from, excluding the long- term injury absentees Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Kyriakos Papadopoulos.

Steaua coach Laurentiu Reghecampf, a former Bundesliga player himself, has made no secrets of his side's tactics in a must-win game for them, also in view of potentially finishing third and qualifying for the Europa League.

"This is our last chance," he said at the pre-match press conference. "If we don't win, we're out, which is why winning is our only option."

Even though Schalke have different options available, Reghecampf does not expect them to play a cagey game.

"They too will be here to win," he said. "This is a big chance for them to make a step towards qualification for the knockout stage."