On Saturday, FC Schalke 04 could, of all people, help BVB with a (partial) success at FC Bayern in the championship race. However, Knappen coach Thomas Reis wants to concentrate fully on his own goal: staying up.
In any case, the promised entry in the golden book of the city of Dortmund is no additional motivation for Reis. “Dortmund should come up with a few other ideas,” explained the coach before the away game at Bayern on Saturday (3:30 p.m.).
From the point of view of the 49-year-old, the importance of the encounter for his protégés is far too great to even think of helping out for a second.
“For us in Munich it’s about Schalke 04 and not Borussia Dortmund,” Reis said, adding: “We’re focusing on our chances for points and if we can do that and others benefit from it, that’s fine, but before that, other clubs had taken points from Bayern.”
If the worst comes to the worst, the trainer believes that a thank you from Borussia for the potential master maker is most appropriate for “our fans”.
Dortmund’s Lord Mayor Thomas Westphal had promised the team an invitation to the town hall as a reward for a possible coup in the Allianz Arena “so that they could sign the Golden Book”.
FC Schalke 04 also at FC Bayern without Moritz Jenz
At the same time, Reis warned against becoming overconfident after the recent race to catch up with last-minute victories against Bremen (2-1) and Mainz (3-2).
“A few weeks ago, no one believed we were capable of anything,” emphasized the coach: “Now we’ve worked hard and gotten lucky, and suddenly everyone thinks we can get something in Munich. That’s for us also a danger.”
Schalke is 15th in the table. only two points ahead of the relegation zone. The personnel situation before the Bayern game is causing additional concerns.
“Moritz Jenz will definitely not be there. We have to see if it’s enough for next week,” said Reis about the defensive stabilizer, which had recently failed.
After all, regular goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann has new hopes of a comeback at the end of the season. The veteran recently did some exercises on the pitch.
“It definitely looked good that he held the balls. It’s important that the adductor problem didn’t affect him that much and that he already did his first catching exercises and his first runs on the pitch,” Reis clarified. “I hope things continue to be positive, then it could be.”
The 34-year-old is not yet available in Munich.