After a home win against 1. FC Nürnberg, FC Schalke 04 can no longer be denied the autumn championship in the 2nd Bundesliga.
Thanks to the 1-0 (0-0), Schalke can no longer be pushed out of first place in the table on the last matchday of the first half of the season next week. Nuremberg remains in the middle of the table.
Schalke coach Miron Muslic didn’t think he had reached his goal yet: “This fall championship title is just confirmation that we are on the right track.” Since the introduction of the single-track 2nd Bundesliga in 1981, 31 of 43 autumn champions have ultimately achieved promotion, but the recent winter title was more of a bad omen. Prominent examples such as Hamburger SV (2018/19 and 2020/21) and FC St. Pauli (2021/22) sometimes failed to achieve large leads.
1. FC Nürnberg is far from that: “We’ve had a lot of good games and then still lost and we have to work on that“, admitted FCN coach Miroslav Klose.
Schalke with the first chance to score
Schalke remained dominant in the first half, which was poor in highlights, but missed a lead. Schalke had their best chance on a counterattack in the 33rd minute. Kenan Karaman hesitated in a central position but was too long when passing to one of the wings, Nuremberg’s Adam Markhiev cleared with a tackle.
Schalke’s Kenan Karaman in a duel with Tim Drexler
In the second half, Schalke took the lead with their first chance. This time Karaman played left to Vitalie Becker in a timely counterattack. He shot from a half-left position from the edge of the penalty area and hit the right corner (52′). A little later, Moussa Sylla shot just over the goal with a direct pass (56′).
Nuremberg still had several good opportunities to equalize. Loris Karius in the Schalke goal prevented a goal against the completely free Luka Lochoshvili (66th) as well as against Artem Stepanov (89th) and again against Lochoshvili (90th). “A turnover on one side and a turnover on the other“: For Muslic the game felt like a basketball game in the final minutes and he praised his goalkeeper: “But that’s why we have Loris.“
Becker returns, fans celebrate with friendship with Nuremberg
Also positive for Schalke: Vice-captain Timo Becker, who tore the medial ligament in his right knee in the game against Greuther Fürth at the end of September 2025, returned as a substitute in the final phase.
Before the game, fans of both teams celebrated their long-standing fan friendship with a great choreography.
Nuremberg choreo at Schalke
Schalke in Braunschweig, Nuremberg against Hanover
Schalke will be guests at Eintracht Braunschweig on Sunday lunchtime (1:30 p.m.). Nuremberg welcomes Hannover 96 on Sunday afternoon (1:30 p.m.).