FC Schalke 04 has come back with a spectacular liberation against Hertha BSC. Relegation appears more realistic again.
It was a tough fight that cost a lot of substance. That was particularly noticeable on Friday night (April 14, 2023) from Schalke’s mascot Erwin – at least from the young man who squeezes into the obviously very warm costume week after week and then tries to animate the fans.
The Erwin actor, whose name must not be revealed at this point, had such wet hair and looked so exhausted as if he had personally fought for 90 minutes on the Gelsenkirchen lawn against Hertha BSC that FC Schalke 04 still had the chance , to remain a serious contender in the fight for relegation.
New Hope
With a spectacular 5-2 goal that was hardly thought possible by Schalke standards, the team of coach Thomas Reis defeated the Berliners in the relegation peak and not only gave themselves new hope, but also a concrete improvement in the starting position before the last six Bundesliga games. Before that, Schalke had only managed a meager 21 goals in 27 games.
“We talked a lot during the week and knew that we had to make up something”, reveals S04 midfielder Dominick Drexler after the 90 minutes, which were liberating for everyone involved. After all, the extremely sobering 0: 2 in Hoffenheim from the previous week had already tempted many a sympathizer of the club to finally lose faith in the team.
Immense pressure spread over several shoulders
The best insight for the Schalke supporters from this evening in Gelsenkirchen: The players have managed to get up again. “It was a game where everyone knew there was a lot of pressure”said Rice. “The early goal helped us. And the team was very self-critical after Hoffenheim.”
The Schalke coach had called up his experienced players such as Simon Terodde, Drexler, the two-goal scorer Marius Bülter, Marcin Kaminski and Danny Latza, who had already coped well with the physical and mental exertion involved in promotion last season. “to spread the immense pressure on several shoulders. And I think you can say that it worked very well”according to Rice.
Unusual playful lightness
The result was probably the best performance of the season, which Hertha BSC still favored with an almost absurdly flawed defense. However, this should in no way diminish Schalke’s performance. On the contrary. In the meantime, the Reis team showed playful elements that it had never shown in this form and frequency in the entire season.
There was an almost unusual playful ease that is anything but natural for such a late and difficult end of the season as Schalke are going through.
Hard remaining program
Before the last six matchdays, the win against the Berliners should have created something like a non-relegation euphoria around Berger Feld. “I think we’re in a better position now. But this number of points will definitely not be enough. If we’re still in the race to stay up on the last day of the game, then we’ve achieved a lot.”said Rice.
In any case, the remaining program of the Royal Blues has it all. Two home games (Bremen, Frankfurt) face four away games (Freiburg, Mainz, Munich, Leipzig) and opponents of the highest German category. Schalke probably have the most difficult task of all teams fighting relegation.
But that should play a subordinate role this evening. Not only the young man, who embodies the mascot Erwin, went home with a smile and a good feeling despite this unpleasant prospect. After all, they hadn’t experienced anything like this with the S04 for a long time.