Hyypia heaps pressure on Schalke

Bayer Leverkusen head coach Sami Hyypia says the pressure is on Schalke to close the gap on his side ahead of their Bundesliga clash.

Hyypia’s men, sitting third in the standings, travel to Schalke on Saturday with a four-point lead over their hosts and he says his team are fully prepared for a difficult game.

“I think the preparation for the game has gone very well. We have a few health problems. But the team is ready to play well and get a good result,” Hyypia said.

“Of course it is difficult. Schalke are in good form and are playing well. But we shouldn’t be afraid to go there.

“We shouldn’t be afraid to play well and then I believe we will come back with a good result after the match.”

Hyypia was still coming to terms with the fact his side were in the top three on the Bundesliga table so late in the season.

“If anyone had told me that towards the end of the season we would be four points ahead of Schalke, you would have called him crazy,” Hyypia said.

“Maybe Schalke has a higher purpose than we and they want to be placed as high as possible.

“They are now four points behind us. If they do not win, the gap remains the same or becomes larger. Maybe that puts more pressure for Schalke than us.”

The Finnish boss also commented on Andre Schurrle’s recent dip in form saying that the club will help him through this difficult period.

“We have talked about that and it is clear he (Schurrle) is not in form,” Hyypia said.

“But in recent games he has scored goals and shown that he is a good player.

“It is important that he is focused on playing well and scoring goals for this team. We will help him so that he can recover his form and in turn he helps us get the results we need.”