FC Schalke 04 will be without five players during the current international break. The friendly match will be against Jermaine Jones.

Returnees on the pitch: On Tuesday afternoon (March 24), Vitalie Becker and Bryan Lasme took part in training with the FC Schalke 04 team for the first time. Adrian Gantenbein, Anton Donkor, and Christopher Antwi-Adjei were able to increase their workload following their return last week.

The trio is also expected to return to the pitch and see playing time in Thursday evening’s (March 26) friendly against third-division side 1. FC Schweinfurt 05. The league rival of promotion contenders and local rivals Rot-Weiss Essen and MSV Duisburg sits at the bottom of the table and has been coached by Jermaine Jones since February 19, 2026 (two wins, one draw, three losses).

The 44-year-old Jones was under contract with FC Schalke 04 between 2007 and 2014. In total, the American played 185 competitive matches for Schalke. Jones has never played more often for any other club in his career.

Schalke’s training session was led by assistant coaches Tim Hoogland, Eddie Lattimore, and Adin Osmanbasic, who will also oversee the team in Schweinfurt. Head coach Miron Muslic is spending this week with his family in Upper Austria and will rejoin the team next week to prepare for the home match against Karlsruher SC (April 5).

U23 fullback Max Hauswirth, who is suspended from Jakob Fimpel’s Regionalliga team due to his fifth yellow card, and U19 goalkeeper Nick Bodon also took part in the training session.

Moussa Ndiaye was excused from training on Tuesday due to a personal commitment. Also absent were Edin Džeko, Nikola Katic (both Bosnia and Herzegovina), Adil Aouchiche (Algeria), Mertcan Ayhan (Turkey U21), and Mika Wallentowitz (Germany U19), who are on international duty with their respective national teams.