“Everything” for relegation
Schalke’s emotional journey culminates against Leipzig
May 21, 2023 at 2:22 p.m
Before the start of the second half of the season, it looks pretty unlikely that Schalke 04 would still have a chance of staying up. Well, before the last matchday, the Knappen could even avoid relegation. They want to throw “everything” into the balance against Leipzig.
The disappointment was written all over Schalke’s faces, but hardly anyone wanted to express it – on the contrary. “We will work hard during the week and then win in Leipzig,” announced Sebastian Polter. Rodrigo Zalazar was also self-confident: “It’s football and just one game. We’re trying to win there. Why not?”
Despite the insufficient but gripping 2:2 (1:1) against Eintracht Frankfurt, coach Thomas Reis’ team looked ahead. Although the air is getting thinner and thinner in the relegation battle, they want to seize their last chance in Gelsenkirchen. “We will do everything we can to do our homework in Leipzig,” said Reis.
But the coach also knows that it will “certainly not be easy” at RB. After the victory at Bayern Munich, the Saxons are in third place and thus secure entry into the Champions League. Schalke could benefit from the fact that they may already be eyeing the DFB Cup final against Eintracht Frankfurt on July 3rd in Leipzig.
Just one more game
That’s the theory. In practice, royal blue needs a significant increase in performance. Schalke revealed large gaps in defense against Frankfurt, which punished Leipzig’s final opponents in the person of Daichi Kamada (21st) and Tuta (59th) ice cold. Apart from goals from Simon Terodde (1st) and Polter (85th), the offensive also had little to offer.
In addition, central defenders Moritz Jenz and Terodde will be missing two leading players in Leipzig with a yellow card suspension. On the other hand, great morality gives courage. When many had written off the Reis team, they pulled themselves together, ran, and rewarded themselves with the point. The Royal Blues have been in last place this season. They kept their chance of staying up in the league with mentality performances.
Things got emotional on several occasions, especially in the home games: there was an exhilarating 5-2 win against Hertha, and against Bremen substitute Dominick Drexler only saved in his own penalty area before scoring the winning goal a few seconds later in injury time. Most recently, they also managed to do it away from home in Mainz: when attacker Marius Bülter was fouled in the last few seconds of the game in the opposing sixteen, and then in the 90+12. Minute to convert the due penalty to a 3:2 success.
“I’m sticking to it: On the 34th matchday, nobody in the area would have believed in still having the chance to keep the class. That’s the chance that we just want to use,” said Reis: “Then we’ll see what the point was worth.” Direct relegation, relegation or relegation: All three scenarios are still possible for Schalke. “Of course the pressure is great, but the pressure was great all the time,” explained Reis. “The games are becoming fewer and fewer, now we only have one game left.” A heartbeat finale in Leipzig.