and helped the club's defence keep a clean sheet, in a 0–0 draw. This was followed up by helping the club another clean sheet, in a 1–0 win against SC Freiburg. Following a 2–1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt on 12 March 2011, Uchida wore a shirt which in response to the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, saying: "Dear friends in Japan. Hoping that many lives will be saved. Let's stand together. This misfortune is very, very close to me. I keep in touch with Japan." Since returning to the first team, he managed to regain his first team place in the right–back position for the rest of the season. On 13 April 2011, Uchida became the first Japanese footballer to play for a team that reached the semi-finals of the Champion's League. Despite the club did not reach the final, Uchida came on as a late second–half substitute for Peer Kluge, as the club beat MSV Duisburg 5–0 in the DFB-Pokal Final. In his first season at Schalke 04, Uchida went on to make the total of 43 appearances in all competitions. In the 2011–12 season, Uchida appeared on the substitute bench for the first three league matches and DFL-Supercup, with Marco Höger preferred. He soon made his first appearance of the season for the side, playing in the left–back position, as Schalke 04 lost 2–0 against HJK Helsinki on 18 August 2011 in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League Qualification Round. Uchida revert to his right–back position against the opposition team in a return and managed to overcome the deficit by winning 6–1 to reach the Group Stage. On 28 August 2011, he finally made his first league appearance of the season, in a 1–0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. However, Uchida tore a muscle in his right thigh during training and was sidelined a month. On 3 November 2011, he made his return to the starting line-up, starting the whole game, in a 0–0 draw against AEK Larnaca in the UEFA Europa League Group Stage match. Throughout the most of the 2011–12 season, Uchida and Höger competed over the right–back position, although he suffered his own injury concern himself. Later in the 2011–12 season, Uchida managed to regain his first team place at Schalke 04 after Höger began to play in the right–midfield position. The club's general manager Horst Heldt commented on his performance, saying: "We have already