Schalke 04 meets again and reports back in the relegation battle. The bottom of the table goes into the derby weeks with renewed courage.
Gelsenkirchen (SID) The royal blue players stood reverently in front of the North Stand and listened to the fans, who fervently sang about the “Myth of Schalke Market”. “I had extreme goosebumps,” admitted midfielder Tom Krauss after the liberating 2-1 (2-0) win over VfB Stuttgart: “I also saw Ralle shed a tear or two.”
Goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann, who has been in Gelsenkirchen with interruptions since 2003, was particularly moved by the anthem of the supporters in the arena, which was packed long after the final whistle. “I think everyone was in the stands with goose skin,” said the 34-year-old, who made the game exciting again after a reassuring 2-0 lead with a major mistake: “We kept our hearts on the pitch. You can see , as the fans appreciate.”
At the loudest and most emotional celebration since the resurgence, one saw above all: Schalke is alive again! The first win in 109 days with the first goals after 403 minutes have pushed the bottom of the table back into the relegation battle. Only three points behind the saving 15th place, the explosive tram derby on Saturday (3:30 p.m. / Sky) at the currently weakening penultimate VfL Bochum in front of the chest – “we’re back in business,” said Krauss.
Exactly one month earlier, the traditional club had been clinically dead. After the 1:6 home debacle against RB Leipzig, the gap seemed much larger than seven points, the stadium was silent and almost empty at the final whistle.
A few days later, the fans took the hopeless bottom of the table to their chests in training, “since then we’ve been delivering what they expect from us on the pitch,” said artificial goalscorer Marius Bülter, who provided the highlight of the game with a back heel hit (40th). had. Dominick Drexler had previously ended the long goalless streak (10th). Ferryman’s blunder on Borna Sosa’s long-range shot (63′) brought VfB back into play.
Since that “announcement” (Krauß), Schalke first plugged the holes in the defensive, set a Bundesliga record with four clean sheets in a row and scored seven points from five games without defeat – no longer the record of a relegated team.
However, not the ones that the fans sang loudly in view of the derby weeks: “We are number one in the pot.” In Bochum, however, Schalke could lose the last place in the table for the first time in more than four months with a win. “It’s going to be a hot fight,” predicted coach Thomas Reis, who was still VfL coach at the duel in the first half of the season. “I know the stadium very well, the environment and the power there too.”
A week later in the big Revierderby, the Royal Blues could thwart the apparently overpowering arch-rival Borussia Dortmund – as they did four years ago in a similar starting position. But first Schalke celebrated its resurrection – with great emotions and one or two tears.