It wasn’t just the Schalke players who were harsh on their own performance after the 0:2 loss at TSG Hoffenheim. Thomas Reis also delivered a shocking verdict.

FC Schalke was unbeaten for a long time in the second half of the Bundesliga and was able to fight its way back into the relegation battle with a lot of heart and commitment.

But after the 0:3 at home against Bayer Leverkusen, there was now the 0:2 against TSG Hoffenheim. Thereby there was – especially before the break – a very questionable performance. And that in the relegation battle – even S04 coach Thomas Reis couldn’t really explain that.

He was dismayed after the game. He had to come down hard on his team: “I’ve only seen one team that has invested everything in the relegation battle, and that was Hoffenheim. The first half was not worthy of a relegation battle. It was underground when you see how we concede the goals. “

TSG took advantage of that, even though Hoffenheim coach Pellegrino Matarazzo wasn’t completely satisfied with his team’s performance: “Team cohesion is very important. We currently get that on the pitch as well. We also celebrate small actions. We knew how Schalke defends. There we got behind the chain more often. We had many chances, but efficiency was not our strength this time. I didn’t like the second half, we found our compactness too late. The changes then stabilized us.

While Schalke is under a lot of pressure ahead of Friday’s all-important home game (8:30 p.m.) against Hertha BSC, Hoffenheim has managed to escape the bottom of the table with three wins in a row.

Now it’s off to Bayern on Saturday (3:30 p.m.), and Matarazzo can travel to the record champions with renewed self-confidence. He emphasizes: “We want to get something there now, too. “