COACH TEDESCO’S FATE HANGS IN BALANCE AS SCHALKE TRAVEL TO MANCHESTER CITY

BERLIN — Schalke travel to Manchester City for Tuesday’s Champions League last 16 second leg with head coach Domenico Tedesco barely hanging onto his job and confidence at rock bottom.

City needed late goals from Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling to win the first leg 3-2 in Gelsenkirchen three weeks ago when the Germans shrugged off dreadful league form to produce a battling display.

However, Schalke’s fortunes have nosedived since, leaking 11 goals in three heavy defeats to leave them four points from the Bundesliga relegation places.

Tedesco, 33, has been told he has two games to prove himself. Schalke’s new sporting director Jochen Schneider says only good performances at City and home to third-placed RB Leipzig next Saturday can save Tedesco. Man City have won their last nine games at the Etihad Stadium, but the Schalke squad are hoping for an unlikely away victory and want Tedesco to stay on.

“Of course we do — no one has ever said anything different,” said striker Guido Burgstaller. Despite playing well for 55 minutes at Werder Bremen on Friday, Schalke eventually lost 4-2 with Swiss striker Breel Embolo scoring the visitors’ goals.

“No points, no big improvement. Hard times are waiting for us,” admitted Austrian Burgstaller glumly, looking ahead to the game in Manchester. Things won’t get easier, we have to be prepared for that.”

Morale in the Schalke squad is so low after Friday’s defeat that all the talk was on avoiding relegation, with the prospect of facing the Premier League leaders in their own backyard barely registering.

Defeat in Bremen came on the back of last weekend’s 4-0 thumping at home to Fortuna Duesseldorf and a 3-0 defeat at Mainz - three losses against mediocre midtable opposition. —