FC Schalke 04 has to give up five pros in the derby area near Borussia Dortmund on Saturday (from 15.30 in the LIVETICKER). Huub Stevens also spoke at the press conference on Thursday about Nabil Bentaleb’s transfer to the Schalker U23.
“I’m not going into details. But believe me, it’s not for nothing. We had to take that action. I think it’s a shame I have to do it. I couldn’t help myself. But it’s a team sport, it’s not about a player,” Stevens explained. Various media had suspected that Bentaleb had skipped the obligatory German course.
But Stevens said something about the Algerian’s first banishment in mid-March: “I read that Nabil had been in hospital with his pregnant wife at a game he missed. That was on Saturday. On Sunday we asked what was wrong with his wife – and everything was fine. On Tuesday or Wednesday we travelled to Seville and then his children were born on Thursday. His wife went to the hospital on Wednesday. I was one of the first to congratulate him.”
So while Stevens again renounces Bentaleb for sanctioning reasons, in the 175th Derby against the BVB he is forced to renounce Sascha Riether, Steven Skrzybski, Jewgeni Konopljanka, Alessandro Schöpf and Mark Uth.
“There are enough players ready for the derby,” said the Dutchman, who didn’t want to make the tense personnel situation at the crashed runners-up a big issue.
The squires have been without an away victory with the black-yellow archrival for almost seven years. The last coub to date was the royal blue on 20 October 2012, when Stevens was also the Schalker coach in the 2-1 win.
