Bernd Schuster plans a revenge mission at Bernabeu

Malaga coach Bernd Schuster. Getty Images

Bernd Schuster was ignominiously dumped as coach of Real Madrid in late 2008 and the plain-speaking German is eager for revenge when his Malaga side visit the Bernabeu in the Primera Liga today.

Fired after he suggested it was impossible for Madrid to beat arch-rivals Barcelona at the Camp Nou, Schuster said Madrid’s ragged start to their domestic campaign under coach Carlo Ancelotti proves they are vulnerable.

Barca and Atletico Madrid have won all eight of their matches and have a five-point lead over third-place Madrid, who have yet to gel as a unit under Italian Ancelotti as he tries to make his mark on the team following the exit of Jose Mourinho.

“I won’t deny that it’s an attractive game for me,” said Schuster, who is returning to the Bernabeu as coach of a rival team for the first time since his dismissal, in an interview with Marca.

“Madrid is in a strange moment and I am going to go for it.”

Schuster, 53, was known as “the Blond Angel” during his career as an attacking midfielder and is one of the few men to have played for Real, Barca and Atletico.

“It’s normal that the team retains much of Mourinho,” he said. “Carlo has arrived with a different philosophy, a different style, a different way of behaving, and making the change is a really tough challenge.

“They are lacking in organisation … but I am realistic. To come out of the game with anything, we will have to play a great match and they a bad one and even then, they can still beat you.”

Malaga are going through a process of adjustment after last season’s run to the Uefa Champions League quarter-finals and are 10th in the standings. Uefa rules designed to stop clubs spending more than they earn have checked the club’s spending spree and many of their top performers, including Santi Cazorla, Isco, Joaquin and Jeremy Toulalan, have moved on.

Schuster’s job is to rebuild the team and make sure they qualify for Europe, but he said he would encourage players to go after Madrid and suggested some of their key performers might be jaded after the international break.

“Let nobody think that we are coming with a bus; if you just try to defend, you are dead,” he said.

“If they put four past us, then so be it, but with us stepping up to the plate, putting them under pressure in attack, without taking risks but courageously.

“It’s better to come out of the game with your head held high having given your all. Maybe instead of playing with one forward as we have been, we will play with two and take out a midfielder.

“Let’s see if it works out for us. But if not, at least we will have tried.”

Champions Barca and /Copa Del Rey holders Atletico will be looking to continue their perfect starts today when they play at Osasuna and Espanyol, respectively.