It has been yet another turbulent week in Gelsenkirchen. Indeed, the events of this season have resembled so closely the twists and turns of any classic soap opera or blockbuster film that Bayern Munich's title of FC Hollywood may find itself shifting to the side who ran them the closest last season. A rather fortunate point away to Eintracht, a narrow win in the DFB-Pokal away to FSV Frankfurt and in between controversy when four Schalke players were spotted out until four in the morning at a nightclub. Nevertheless, die Knappen have emerged somewhat from the doom and gloom that engulfed the club after four straight losses at the start of the season.
"We have produced good performances in the last three matches, all of which were in different competitions, and were successful," Magath said, chiefly referring to the cup games.
"Now we want to finally get a first home win against Leverkusen. The team and the fans deserve it."
Magath is right not to be letting up for the expected title challenge has not materialised and Schalke are still in desperate need for points if they are to haul themselves into the race for at least a European spot. Quality they may possess in abundance in addition to one of the continent's most shamefully unheralded tacticians but at a time when European leaders are discussing crisis mechanisms for the Euro, points are the only currency interesting die Koenigsblauen.
"Now is when it really counts in the Bundesliga. We need points pretty quickly in order to climb up the table. Draws are getting us nowhere. We need wins!"
Magath continued in this uncompromising fashion, stating that while he may have been slightly more tolerant of poor results given the massive upheaval at the club in the summer, the time for excuses has passed.
"The transitional period has passed and uncertainty as an explanation for poor performances will no longer suffice. Attitude is now what counts and we have already witnessed that in the Champions League."
Magath is known for his relentless focus on fitness and insistence that players are in peak physical condition. As such, it has not escaped his mind that Leverkusen's players will be suffering from 120 minutes in midweek and the Schalke coach certainly fancies his side's chances.
Looking To Bounce Back After Another Gladbach Defeat
For the second time this season, Bayer Leverkusen suffered a surprise loss at the hands of the mercurial, Jekyll and Hyde team that is Borussia Moenchengladbach. If the 6-3 romp at the Bay Arena was thought to have been a one-off, a chance result, then the cup victory for die Fohlen came as a real surprise coming on the back of a 4-1 thumping by Bremen last weekend. Such a setback has brought Bayer back down to earth but no doubt Jupp Heynckes' men will redouble their efforts as they strive for the consistency to capitalise on any faltering on the part of Mainz or Dortmund.
Despite two hours of football in midweek, Heynckes has expressed confidence is his side's physical condition and is refusing to countenance fatigue as a plausible excuse should Leverkusen underperform come Saturday tea-time.
"The team is in a good physical state and their psyche will have recovered by Saturday, so I expect a good performance against Schalke. If we avoid the mistakes we made in the cup tie but apply the same pressure upfront, we will give ourselves a good chance to win and hopefully score more than just one goal this time," Heynckes told the pre-game press conference.
The Leverkusen players have undergone a regeneration programme in training in order to enable the players to be in tip-top shape at the weekend. Jupp Heynckes has shown a degree of tactical flexibility in his selections, which has partly been necessitated by absences. Indeed, only Rene Adler has played every minute of the league campaign so far. He will probably stick with two strikers upfront, in the shape of Eren Derdiyok and Patrick Helmes, who have five goals between them this season.
Leverkusen need not be intimidated by the 60,000 Schalke supporters in the Veltins-Arena and they are a side more than capable of winning on their travels. Just ask Dortmund and Wolfsburg, both of whom were Leverkusen scalps already. However, Heynckes is not taking Schalke lightly, despite fifth-placed Leverkusen being eleven spots higher in the table.
"It is already a good deal more difficult to play there than it was a few weeks ago. For us it is important to end the game on Saturday happier than we were in Moenchengladbach."
TEAM NEWS
Schalke 04
Felix Magath is able to welcome back experienced duo Christoph Metzelder and Raul to boost his side's ranks. Tim Hoogland is still out with a foot injury and he is joined on the sidelines by Christian Pander and Levan Kenia. The major question marks are over the fitness of midfielders Hao Junmin and Jermaine Jones. Hao is a doubt as he has been kept under examination in hospital with a suspected appendix infection while Jones is undergoing intense treatment to reduce ankle swelling.
Probable Starting XI: Neuer - Uchida, Metzelder, Hoewedes, Schmitz - Farfan, Mortiz, Rakitic - Jurado - Huntelaar, Raul
Bayer Leverkusen
Jupp Heynckes has several high-profile and well publicised injury casualties, chief among which is Michael Ballack. Stefan Kiessling, Sami Hyypia, Renato Augusto and Gonzalo Castro are also suffering with an array of problems. Should Leverkusen indeed plump for two out and out strikers then the chances are that Sidney Sam will play at the expense of a central midfielder - probably Lars Bender.
Probable Starting XI: Adler - Schwaab, Friedrich, Reinartz, Kadlec - Sam, Rolfes, Vidal, Barnetta - Derdiyok, Helmes
Prediction
There should be goals in this game given that neither side has been among the more parsimonious defences in the league this season. I expect Leverkusen to come out firing on all cylinders but Schalke may well edge out on top, spurred on by another Magath rollicking.
Schalke 04 3-2 Leverkusen 
