Bundesliga
Last again: Schalke “not worthy of the relegation battle”
For Schalke 04, the air in the relegation battle is getting thinner and thinner. photo
© Uwe Anspach/dpa
Schalke can rely on its fans who love to travel – but things are different with the team. In the first of two games in a row against a direct competitor, S04 disappointed.
Goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann didn’t really fuss after the sobering Sunday evening in the Sinsheim stadium and spoke of an upcoming final in the relegation battle.
“I never really said it, but I think on Friday – that’s one,” he said. And what can FC Schalke 04 take with them from the 0: 2 (0: 1) at fellow competitor TSG 1899 Hoffenheim to the next, even more explosive game between the bottom of the table and the penultimate Hertha BSC in the Bundesliga? “The mood of the fans, that’s all,” said the 34-year-old.
After an intermediate high, the second defeat in a row catapulted the Gelsenkircheners to where they had been for a long time: all the way down in the table cellar. Coach Thomas Reis said dryly in the press conference: “We don’t need to look back, there’s no team.”
Unlike the Schalke team, the Gelsenkirchen fan power even commanded respect from the Hoffenheim supporters – and a remarkable irony. “Away win! Away win!” chanted the home crowd after the final whistle, and even the stadium announcer blew deeply after TSG’s third success in a row: “That was really a very important away win at home against Schalke.”
15,000 Schalke in Sinsheim
But even an estimated 15,000 loud Royal Blues could not roar to victory. “We just couldn’t do it. It hurts. We knew how important the game was, what an opportunity we had to climb the table,” said striker Marius Bülter in a DAZN interview after the next setback in the fight for staying in the class. Fährmann was also self-critical with his team: “All in all, it wasn’t a good game from us.”
Before the next important challenge on Friday against Hertha, who are also in great distress, Schalke, who are now five points behind VfL Bochum in the first safe non-relegation zone, are one point behind the Berliners. VfB Stuttgart on the relegation rank is two points away.
Nevertheless, after the final whistle, the visiting fans waved their flags almost halfway across the stadium as the players trotted into their corner with their heads bowed and thanked them for their support. Schalke booked two goals from aluminum and scored once – but through Alex Král (22nd minute) into their own goal. In addition, the guests had to accept a penalty from Ihlas Bebou (70th) in front of 30,150 spectators in the sold-out arena.
“That was absolutely not enough”
“When you talk about the relegation battle, I only saw one team that invested in it, and that was Hoffenheim. That was absolutely not enough. The first half was not worthy of the relegation battle,” criticized Reis, who “was very disappointed and also appalled” was about his team’s performance in the first half. “Even if the defeat hurts, we have to keep going. We have a very important game on Friday that we absolutely want to win, maybe we have to to stay in the race.”
Bülter warned: “It’s only possible if we stick together – the fans showed that after the game.” Hoffenheim’s coach Pellegrino Matarazzo also registered an “astonishing number of flags” from the opponent, but said after the attempt at conquest, which was at least sportily averted, as before the game: “It will always be our stadium.” His defender Kevin Vogt had to laugh at the “away win” shouts from the TSG fans: “I thought that was crazy.”
Bundesliga schedule Bundesliga table Squad TSG 1899 Hoffenheim TSG Hoffenheim on Twitter Squad FC Schalke 04 Schalke 04 on Twitter