Breitenreiter wants ruthless Schalke to welcome Bayern

Schalke coach Andre Breitenreiter believes his team will need a flawless performance in order to take anything from their weekend clash with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.

Breitenreiter’s men are without a win for six matches in all competitions and welcome Bayern to the Veltins-Arena on Saturday on the back of a dispiriting 3-2 derby loss to local rivals Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern have taken an astonishing 34 points from 36 on offer in the Bundesliga so far this season and Breitenreiter stated that any mistakes made by Pep Guardiola’s side will have to be ruthlessly punished.

“We want to play without any mistakes – you need to against Bayern,” he said.

“We will be giving the team a clear game plan. There will be chances for us in the match.

“We have gone over a number of things that we want to implement on Saturday, but we’re the underdogs.

“There are games where Bayern make mistakes and are maybe a little sloppy. We want to take advantage of that.”

Breitenreiter, who was reported by local newspaper Der Westen to have branded the Tuesday training performance of his players not on international duty as “a circus”, is set to welcome back captain Benedikt Howedes from a fractured hand.

Germany defender Howedes scored in both Bundesliga matches against Bayern last season as Schalke emerged with a pair of 1-1 draws.

“All of the international players have returned fully fit,” he added. “Bene Howedes is back on board now too after his injury.

“Leroy Sane, Max Meyer and Leon Goretzka put in great performances with Germany Under-21s and have really developed as players.”