Schalke coach Huub Stevens has called for courage from his players prior to Saturday’s home match against Bayern Munich.
The Royal Blues have not beaten the Bavarian giants at home since December 2010, but the Dutch coach will be hoping for a repeat of the scoreline last time he was in charge against Bayern, in 2002.
“There have been so many games inbetween, I can’t really remember it,” the 58-year-old was quoted as saying by Bundesliga.com.
“Of course I’m well aware that we beat Bayern 5-1, but I hadn’t realised it was my last home game versus Munich in my first spell in charge of Schalke.”
The former PSV Eindhoven defender was quick to stress that his side would face a much sterner test this time around however, saying he sees die Roten as “number one title candidates”.
“Confidence alone isn’t enough to beat Bayern,” said Stevens. “We’ve got good results in our first few games, but we’re still experiencing fluctuations in our game.
“On Saturday we have to play with courage and conviction. We can’t allow ourselves to be fearful against Bayern. Fear is a bad adviser,” he added.