Hardly any points, personnel problems and difficult away games in front of the chest: the basement children Schalke 04 and VfL Bochum want to make steps forward in the Bundesliga against all odds.
An away win with FC Schalke 04? This task seems almost impossible for Thomas Reis. The Royal Blues have not won 34 games in a row abroad and threaten to break Karlsruher SC’s historic negative record from 1981 in the promoted duel at Werder Bremen. But the new coach of the bottom of the table does not want to accept that. “It is important that you lead the way as a coach,” said Reis before the game in the Weser Stadium on Saturday (6.30 p.m. / Sky and in the ntv.de live ticker), the next attempt to end the bitter series: “You can also fight in duels go when you don’t have that much confidence.”
Reis has to develop his belief in his own strength again with the violently swaying Gelsenkirchen Bundesliga team. Seven competitive defeats in a row are depressing and Schalke, who are now also playing without Thomas Ouwejan (internal ligament injury in his knee), must be careful not to create a serious gap to a non-relegation zone before the World Cup break. At least Bayer Leverkusen, which is also in serious trouble and is in relegation place 16, is still within reach with a current three-point deficit.
Also for VfL Bochum, whose location at first glance is very similar to that of the ex-coach’s new club. Nothing has gone away so far, zero points and 4:19 goals is the devastating record after six guest appearances this season, most recently it was a 0:4 at VfL Wolfsburg. But the team coached by Thomas Letsch, which is now tackling the very difficult task in the “little Revierderby” at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday (3:30 p.m.), has presented itself as more lively than Schalke in recent weeks.
“We won half of the six games,” Letsch said of his record since taking office in September: “If we keep this average, we will definitely achieve our goals this season.” In addition to two home wins in the league, the 54-year-old also counts the cup success at the third division club from Elversberg.
VfL is going into the duel in Dortmund as a clear outsider, but with optimism in the knowledge of the 4:3 win at BVB in the previous season, which secured relegation at the time. However, renewed personnel problems in the thin central defense make it difficult to take something countable with you. Both Erhan Masovic (adductors) and Dominique Heintz (muscular problems) are out. Vasilios Lampropoulos is expected to line up alongside Ivan Ordets in central defence. It is also important for Bochum to keep at it and then use the World Cup break to prepare optimally for the remaining 19 games.
For both clubs, this means that they keep their eyes open for reinforcements – within the limited financial framework. In the final three league games in 2022, however, the first thing to do is somehow score points with the existing professionals. Above all, he wanted to see “aggressive and courageous players”, said Reis, who lost all of his last eight Bundesliga games: “You just have to be disgusting.” And the Schalke team finally achieved their last away win in 2019 on a November day in Bremen.
