Over two months of World Cup break are over. This weekend, the ball will be rolling again in the Bundesliga. FC Schalke 04 has a tough away game coming up.

The rest of the 1st Bundesliga is about to start. On Friday evening (20 January, 20.30), RB Leipzig and the record champions FC Bayern München will open the 16th matchday. One day later (21 January, 3.30 p.m.), FC Schalke 04 will also return to action. The Knappen are guests of the reigning Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt.

With nine points after 15 games, Schalke are in last place in the table and are already five points behind the relegation place, which is occupied by VfB Stuttgart.

A race to catch up is necessary, ideally starting in Frankfurt, even if head coach Thomas Reis’ team are clear underdogs there. Especially when you consider the test match results. While S04 failed to record a win in six comparisons, Eintracht came away victorious four times in seven games, defeating league rivals RB Leipzig 4-2. In the pre-match press conference, the Schalke coach gave an update on the personnel situation. Rodrigo Zalazar (back from training after a broken metatarsal), Leo Greiml (back from training after a meniscus injury), Thomas Ouwejan (torn inner ligament), Alex Kral (disc problems), Niklas Tauer (torn muscle fibre) Sebastian Polter (cruciate ligament injury), Sepp van den Berg (torn ligament) and Justin Heekeren (torn cruciate ligament) will definitely not be able to play.

Dominick Drexler (corona), Marius Bülter (injured) and Marcin Kaminski (ill) are all questionable. Reis, however, believes in a return of promotion hero Bülter: “He was already back in running training on Thursday. There is a very high probability that he can play. “

If Drexler should drop out, the S04 coach says there are the following options: Andreas Ivan from the U23s, Kenan Karaman as a hanging point or Soichiro Kozuki. “It’s up to us to make the best of it. We will send a squad onto the pitch that can hold its own against Frankfurt,” Reis explained.