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Guus Hiddink on FC Schalke 04 (PSV.nl)

12 sep 2005 - Source: PSV.nl

This newsitem has been supplied by PSV.nl

PSV head coach Guus Hiddink gave his views on Tuesday night's opponent during the customary pre-match press conference after the Monday morning training session on the pitch of the Eindhoven Philips Stadium.He referred to the German club Schalke 04 as 'a tough opponent'.AlexHiddink had positive news to announce on the injury that Brazilian defender Alex had sustained during the FC Utrecht game last Saturday. "He has sustained a bad injury, but fortunately it is less serious than we had feared at first. He has picked a bad knock; that’s why I cannot possibly when he returns to the pitch. He was one of the revelations and key figures in our European campaign last season", explained Hiddink, who will have to bring about some more changes to his side.Arouna Koné and Michael Ball are not eligible at this stage of the tournament yet, as they have already made appearances in Europe for their former clubs. Tenth season in Champions LeagueHiddink reminded the press that PSV will compete in the Champions League for the tenth season in a row. "This is a great achievement for the institute PSV. We have collected many points the past few years in particular."Hiddink thinks that Schalke 04, the first opponent in the Champions League, are a tough opponent. "They are a big club; they have been in the top of the German table the past few years. They are stubborn in defence and they have quality players. We have some new players, but hopefully we can take the first step tomorrow. We have earned ten points in two consecutive seasons, but we only progressed to the next phase last season. Expectations are running high again and people expect us to repeat last season’s feat. However human it may be to think this way, it is not realistic approach."20, 000 season ticketsSome 30, 000 tickets have been sold for the Tuesday game, of which 20,000 season tickets that are valid for each of the three home group stage home games. 1, 600 German fans will travel from Gelsenkirchen to Eindhoven to support their team. 95 journalists and 48 photographers have applied for an accreditation. The game will be broadcast live in ten countries. Schalke 04 will train in the Philips Stadium on Monday night at 20:00.