Royal blue satisfaction: After FC Schalke 04 had long been regarded as having no chance in the Bundesliga, everything is suddenly possible again when it comes to staying up. The victory in Bochum was triumphant.
Thomas Reis preferred to celebrate his biggest win to date in silence. The FC Schalke 04 coach did not celebrate excessively after the 2-0 (1-0) win at his old place of work at VfL Bochum, where he had been badly insulted before the explosive Revierderby. “Of course it was something special today, I make no secret of it. It was the first time that I came to the stadium as an opponent,” said the long-time Bochum professional and coach, who is now on the verge of keeping FC Schalke in the Bundesliga after all.
“Inner joy” with coach Reis
With the second win in a row, the promoted team, who had hardly been competitive for a long time this season, passed VfL, who had the same number of points, in 17th place with 19 points. “We’re back in the thick of it” rejoiced the scorer for the second goal, Marius Bülter (78th minute). His head coach remained cool on the outside and, by his own admission, was “inside” happy, as he reported. “You have respect for the club where you worked for three years and where it was great fun,” he said later.
With the majority of the VfL appendix, he is through after his sacking in Bochum, which was accompanied by many discords, following the false start of the season and the subsequent move to unloved neighbors Schalke. An insulting poster (“If you’re not a dishonorable bastard, who is?”) and a number of whistles before the game, Reis had endured quite stoically. Even after the game there was – deliberately – little extroverted from him.
Ambiguous feelings
And Reis didn’t feel very comfortable standing there in a light-colored hooded sweatshirt with a large S04 emblem with his old love, whom he had plunged into a deep sense of identity crisis. “If it’s up to me, I would like both to stay in,” said the unequal neighbors, who continue to occupy the two relegation places, “that would be good for the Ruhr area.”
Euphoria before the derby against Dortmund
Players and fans reacted much more euphorically to the liberation – just in time for the big Revierderby next Saturday against Borussia Dortmund, Schalke is not last for the first time since autumn 2022. “We’re number one in the pot,” sang enthusiastically the fans from Gelsenkirchen who had come to the neighboring city.
Joy and sorrow were also spatially very close together. Bochum keeper Manuel Riemann crouched on the pitch like a heap of misery. Significantly, the only consolation after the game came from the Schalke players. With a blatant slapstick own goal (45th), the opinionated VfL goalkeeper gave the guests the basis for victory in the first place. Up until then Schalke hadn’t had a single chance to score, Bochum was better.
Riemann’s misfire – the beginning of the VfL end
“We missed a huge opportunity today,” said Bochum coach Thomas Letsch after the fourth Bundesliga defeat in a row: “We’re responsible for that ourselves. It’s a massive problem that after a superior half-time in which we only don’t take our chances, don’t go into the break again with at least a 0-0 lead.” The reason for this was, of course, Riemann’s dropout, who simply had to catch the ball in front of the line, but instead pushed it over the line.
Great series 2023 – Schalke undefeated
Curiously, both teams, who are now tied on points, are going into the coming weeks with completely different moods. Schalke, as one of only two teams still undefeated in the second half of the season, is looking forward to the derby against BVB – the team that hasn’t even dropped a point this year.
Reis on BVB: “They’re a good team that’s in flow.” However, his team “passed brilliantly” in two crucial games in the relegation battle, first against Stuttgart and now against Bochum. Schalke is no longer last, and Thomas Reis says about 17th place: “Let’s see how long we stay there.”
Drexler is out
Dominick Drexler, who injured himself during training during the week, will not be in Dortmund. The coach does not expect a quick recovery. “Definitely no for the derby against Dortmund, it is questionable whether it will even work before the international break,” said Reis. After the BVB game, the game at FC Augsburg (Saturday, March 18, 3:30 p.m.) is still on the royal blue schedule before the league pauses for two weeks.
