Magath wary of Hapoel side with nothing to lose

Felix Magath warned his FC Schalke 04 side to beware the wounded lion as the German side play host to a Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC outfit fighting for their UEFA Champions League future after two defeats in Group B.

Felix Magath, Schalke coach
We will have to attack and take control as our opposition are more defence-minded. They will try to defend in numbers and use pace in attack. They showed they are dangerous on the break at FC Salzburg in qualifying. [Etey] Shechter is a very dangerous and quick player; we have to be wary of him.

Hapoel now have one last chance to turn things around after losing their first two matches: they will fight hard. It will be a tight match and it will be very difficult for us to get around their defence. Nevertheless, I believe we'll win. We're not among the favourites to win the Champions League, but we want to give as good an account of ourselves as possible and stay in the competition as long as we can.

Eli Gutman, Hapoel coach
We know this is an important match, when small things like lapses in concentration will make all the difference. If we can retain focus and take motivation from winning the derby [on Saturday] then we can achieve something here, but we will need discipline. If we play well I am optimistic we can win this match but there is no magic formula.

Schalke have lots of good players, like Raúl [González], [Klaas-Jan] Huntelaar and [José Manuel] Jurado. Everyone has massive respect for them. Anyone from Israel coming to this stadium will know that this really is a different league.

Team news
• Schalke
Joel Matip recovered from a bout of malaria to start against VfB Stuttgart at the weekend, while Mario Gavranović was a substitute having not played since May due to a knee problem. Ivan Rakitić and Jefferson Farfán have been declared fit, but Levan Kenia (ankle), Tim Hoogland (knee and now pancreatitis) and Christian Pander (muscular problems) are long-term absentees.

• Hapoel
Avihay Yadin suffered an ankle knock against Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC on Saturday and is doubtful for the Schalke match. Dedi Ben-Dayan (knee) failed a late fitness test ahead of that game. Mahran Lala could be out for the season after undergoing surgery on ruptured knee ligaments.

Weekend results
16/10/10 Schalke 2-2 VfB Stuttgart
(Edu 29, Huntelaar 80pen; Gebhart 15, Harnik 74)
Felix Magath made three changes to the team which lost 2-1 at 1. FC Nürnberg on 2 October, Atsuto Uchida, Edu and Christoph Moritz coming in for Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Farfán and the suspended Jermaine Jones. Farfán was rested on his return from international duty with Peru.

16/10/10 Hapoel 1-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC
(Zahavi 3)
Gal Shish deputised for the injured Dedi Ben-Dayan at left-back as Hapoel kept their first clean sheet in 12 games and stretched their unbeaten run in Tel Aviv derbies to nine league meetings.

Did you know?
Magath led FC Bayern München to a 5-1 home win against Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League group stage.

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