Finn Porath and Timo Becker will face their former club Holstein Kiel with Schalke 04. Coach Miron Muslic invited the duo to his office.
On Tuesday, Finn Porath admitted: “This week is very special. As the weekend approaches, I’ll be more excited than usual.”
Porath has only been a Schalke 04 player for four weeks. On August 10, the second matchday of the second division season, he played for Holstein Kiel for six minutes and is now a club legend after six successful years there. When Schalke host Bundesliga relegation side Kiel on Saturday (1 p.m./Sky), it will not only be a special reunion for 28-year-old Porath. Schalke defender Timo Becker, who joined on a free transfer before the start of the season, also played for Kiel for three years and felt very much at home by the sea, even though he is a Schalke man through and through. He sometimes led Kiel onto the field as captain. Side by side, Becker and Porath were important pillars in Kiel’s first promotion to the Bundesliga in 2024, a once-in-a-century event for soccer on the Kiel Fjord.
Schalke pro Porath played 186 competitive games for Holstein Kiel
Schalke coach Miron Muslic wants to make use of the insider knowledge of Porath and Becker, who both worked for a long time under Kiel coach Marcel Rapp. Porath even completed the entire summer preparation with the Holstein squad. “We have two spies—Timo and Finn. We brought the guys into the office and exchanged ideas. We want to prepare as best we can and should also use this information,” said Muslic. Did it help? “The guys reported what we had already recognized in our analysis. Kiel has a team that is very athletic, very dynamic, and can play very intensely.”
For Schalke, the aim is to build on their dream start with four wins from five competitive games and move up to second place. Muslic said his team had “taken a breather” during the international break. They had four days off, only one professional had to play the full 90 minutes in the friendly against Mönchengladbach (0-2), and some professionals flew off on short vacations, Becker to Ibiza, for example. Some training sessions were more relaxed in nature. Muslic said his team had made good use of the break. There are two changes to the starting lineup compared to the Dresden game: Moussa Sylla and Christian Gomis are pushing for Emil Höjlund and Janik Bachmann in the team.
Former Kiel players Porath and Becker form the right side at S04
Finn Porath and Becker form the duo on the right side – as they did at their former club. Porath was recently in Kiel to pack his last suitcases. He played 186 competitive games for Holstein (15 goals, 16 assists), a period that is not so easy to shake off. He is still living in a hotel, but has already found a new apartment. Schalke instead of the sea: that is his motto from now on.