With victories against Bremen and in Mainz, FC Schalke 04 fought their way out of the bottom of the table. But now a difficult rest of the program follows – starting with the game at champions Bayern Munich.
After the first half of the season, many had already written off FC Schalke 04. With only nine points, the promoted team was at the bottom of the table, and many experts classified the Royal Blues’ Bundesliga squad as “not competitive”.
But under coach Thomas Reis, the mission to stay in the league has picked up full speed again. With 21 points from 14 games, Schalke is the eighth best team in the second half of the season. And after the two victories against Werder Bremen (2:1) and at FSV Mainz 05 (3:2), the team is no longer in one of the last three places in the table for the first time since the 8th matchday.
The rest of Schalke’s program is tough: on Saturday (3.30 p.m.) they will be visiting champions Bayern Munich, a week later Eintracht Frankfurt will come to Gelsenkirchen and on the last day of the game RB Leipzig will be a top team in top form.
Jenz and ferryman are still missing
Reis is currently plagued by other concerns. In Munich he again has to do without the injured defensive stabilizer Moritz Jenz, and the game comes too early for first-choice goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann. On the other hand, Marius Bülter, who is Schalke’s top scorer with eleven goals and three assists – and recently showed nerves of steel with the decisive penalty in the last-minute win in Mainz, should be in the starting eleven again.
However, the Gelsenkirchen team does not travel to the leaders of the table only as a point supplier – even if they have not won the last 24 competitive games (21 defeats) against Bayern and have lost the last eleven games alone with a total of 2:36 goals. “We want to keep our distance to the rear,” said Reis. “We have to be able to suffer and run after the ball. But we can’t let our heads hang after an unsuccessful action.”
“Indecent offer” from Dortmund
Before the important game in Munich, an “immoral offer” caused unrest – an offer from arch-rivals Dortmund, who were unpopular with most Schalke fans. Mayor Thomas Westphal said, according to “WAZ”: “If FC Schalke 04 beats FC Bayern next weekend and BVB becomes champions, then I’ll invite the current Schalke team to the town hall so that they can sign Dortmund’s golden book. “
The offer received a lot of media attention, Schalke’s coach Reis was unimpressed. “That’s not an issue for us. Dortmund should come up with a few other ideas,” said the 49-year-old, who was only partially right with Westphal’s statements. “A few weeks ago nobody believed us capable of anything anymore,” said Reis: “Now we’ve worked hard and conquered luck, suddenly everyone has in mind that we could get something in Munich. That’s for us too a danger”.
