A typical Schalke goal: Florian Neuhaus comes in from 16 meters after Breel Embolo had previously failed to Frederik Rönnow. The shot is actually too central to get past the many Schalke legs. But despite Rönnow, Matija Nastasic, Ozan Kabak and Omar Mascarell in front of the goal, the ball somehow got through – in the end also through Mascarell’s legs (15th minute). If you wanted to use clichés, you could now write: A team can only catch such a goal if it is in the bottom.
The result: Borussia Mönchengladbach wins 4: 1 (2: 1) against Schalke. Read the game report here.
Set the mark: During the week, the separation from squad planner Michael Reschke became known on Schalke. In addition, Vedad Ibišević’s contract will be terminated at the end of the year, Nabil Bentaleb is to leave the club, Armine Harit is given a pause for thought. Whether it was down to the personnel decisions or not, Schalke were the better team for the first 30 minutes. The guests had already shot on goal ten times (Gladbach three times), especially Mark Uth caused the Gladbach defensive problems. Only: At this point it was 1-1 and a few minutes later Schalke were behind. Even if the team is playing well, it doesn’t work out right now. Not a good sign.
First half: Schalke made the game and had their first chances through Mark Uth (4th) and Matthew Hoppe (9th). The 1: 1 by Benito Raman was even played out great. Uth chipped the ball into Raman’s run, which completed volley directly and hit from about twelve meters. After half an hour, the home side took control, scored 2-1 through Oscar Wendt (36th) and could have gone even higher at the break.
Bet on the youth: With debutant Matthew Hoppe (19), Malick Thiaw (19) and Kilian Ludewig (20), there were three players in the starting line-up who have not yet reached the age of 21. There were also other talents on the bench: Can Bozdogan (19), Kerim Calhanoglu (18), Münir Levent Mercan (19) and Luca Schüler (21). Manuel Baum can’t do much wrong if he relies even more on the youth in the future. Experience shows that young professionals are also more likely to forgive mistakes. And if Schalke should be relegated at the latest, the club will have no choice anyway. Most of the established players under contract are too expensive for the 2nd division.
»This is a team now«: This interjection came from those around Schalker Bank shortly after Uth hit the post with a direct free kick (28th). And indeed: The Schalke performance was the greatest glimmer of hope in the past few months – if only for just under 30 minutes.
Second half: Schalke started bravely again, but were already 1: 3 behind after just under seven minutes. Rönnow could not hold a ball from Alassane Pléa, Marcus Thuram pocketed the margin. As a result, the guests continued to play forward, but defensively offered the opponent huge freedom. Nevertheless: Schalke could not accuse Schalke of a lack of offensive urge at least today.
Six more: Schalke have not won 25 games in a row in the Bundesliga. For Tasmania Berlin’s negative record (31 games), there are still six games missing without a threesome. By the way: The last victory to date was against Gladbach on January 17th.
Leadership defended: Gladbach could have had a lot more points on the account. Marco Rose’s team has already lost a lead four times, while Gladbach only did that twice in the entire past season. Today the foals countered the interim equalization and remain unbeaten at home this season.
Surprise in the starting XI: Denis Zakaria was on the pitch for the first time in almost nine months. A few days ago it was said in Gladbach that he should slowly be brought back to the starting XI after he celebrated his comeback as a substitute against Shakhtar Donetsk. It went faster then. Although the Swiss made a decent game, including taking the lead through a strong conquest of the ball, the team noticed at the beginning the lack of some central players. Captain Lars Stindl, Christoph Kramer and Nico Elvedi were spared at the beginning, next week the important Champions League game against Inter is on
