Rudy: "We still have a lot of work ahead of us"

Sebastian, are you looking forward to coming back to TSG Hoffenheim?
''Yes, of course. TSG will always remain a special place for me. I spent seven brilliant years at the club. So of course I'm always delighted to come back.

Schalke got off to a bad start this season. What do you think was behind this?
''The first five matches didn't go as planned. After that we managed to pick up a bit of momentum, although we have just come off the back of a deserved defeat in Porto. We've made it to the last 16 of the Champions League and the next round of the DFB-Cup, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us.''

''I hope that we take home the three points''

How important would a win be for Schalke in making up ground in the race for European places?
''Overall we've managed to move forwards in the last few weeks. We want to keep up this good run and make further improvements. We have to make sure that we're able to make the most of our strengths out on the pitch and that we play well together as a team. Of course I hope that we take home the three points.''

What do you make of the progress Hoffenheim have made since your departure from the club?
''I think the trajectory has been going constantly upwards. Hoffenheim finished in third place last season and this time round they've been playing good football and scoring a lot of goals.'' 

You have a teammate at Schalke, Mark Uth, who also used to play at TSG. Do you often get to talking about the time you shared in Hoffenheim?
''Yeah. We played alongside each other at TSG for two years. That was a great time with a lot of brilliant experiences, we became good friends back then. So of course we like to reminisce about that.'

What will it come down to on Saturday?
''Scoring more goals than the opposition.''

 

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