FC Schalke 04 has been working intensively for weeks to get in the best possible shape for the continuation of the Bundesliga season. This has not yet been reflected in the test match results. On Saturday afternoon in the training camp in Belek, Turkey, the fourth preparatory game was not won either. It was a 2-2 draw against the Swiss first division club FC Zurich. S04 head coach Thomas Reis was still confident.
Even after the fourth friendly without a win, the Gelsenkirchen coach was optimistic that his team would be fully competitive before the Bundesliga restart on January 21 at Eintracht Frankfurt (from 3:30 p.m.).
“I’m happy with the way we played. We created a lot of chances in both halves,” said Reis after the draw against the reigning Swiss champions.
Like FC Schalke, Zurich are currently playing a disastrous season and are also in last place in their league.
The Schalke coach registered that they conceded two goals again against the Swiss. On Saturday, however, he was focused on pointing out the positive aspects of the offensive game: “It was important to me that the first look after winning the ball went in depth – and that was the case in many situations,” said Reis in the “Westdeutsche Allgemeine newspaper” quoted.
FC Schalke conceded at least two goals in all tests
The 2:2 equalizer came late in the 89th minute with a penalty kick. Previously, the recently strong Soichiro Kozuki and Simon Terodde had scored for the Royal Blues.
FC Schalke had not been able to get the defensive problems under control in the friendlies before, whether by set pieces or by the game. They also conceded at least two goals against Rapid Vienna (2:2), Hajduk Split (3:4) and VfL Osnabrück (2:2).
As part of the Turkey training camp, the bottom team of the Bundesliga will play against 1. FC Nuremberg (January 10) and Werder Bremen (January 14).