“Madness” at the opening of the season
© Imago
The enthusiasm for FC Schalke 04 is still unbroken even after years of disappointment. On Saturday, more than 80,000 fans celebrated the “Schalke-Ath”, the official season opening ceremony before the first competitive game in the 2nd Bundesliga on Friday (8:30 p.m.) against Hertha BSC.
“This is insane. That should give the boys a nice push for the next few weeks,” said the captain Kenan Karaman (31), celebrated for minutes at the presentation of the team, who is just getting into team training after a meniscus injury.
The Schalke, who descended two years ago, have recently disappointed in the 2nd league and two tremors with relegation battle. “After two not so good season, you should stay on the ground,” said Karaman, but also satisfied the thinking about the crashed district giant: “Schalke definitely belongs to the Bundesliga. We definitely want to move in the upper area. We have to step on the gas now.”
Baumann announces further Schalke transfers
The new sports director Frank Baumann also announced further transfers. “We still have to do something, both in width and in the top,” said the former Bremen sports director, who also installed a new coach with the Austrian Miron Muslic. So far, the Schalke have presented three new additions. As the most prominent name, Timo Becker (28) returned from the Bundesliga relegated Holstein Kiel and was immediately declared Karaman’s deputy by Muslic.