Schalke 04 missed out on a conciliatory end to the season. The Royal Blues were beaten 2-0 at SpVgg Greuther Fürth in a clash between their neighbors in the table.

There was probably nobody at FC Schalke 04 who didn’t draw a mental line at 5.27 p.m. on Whit Sunday 2024. At the end of a disastrous season, the Royal Blues lost the game at SpVgg Greuther Fürth, losing as so often away from home, this time 0:2 (0:0). Nevertheless, they finished the 2023/2024 season in tenth place, as SV Elversberg lost 3-0 to Karlsruher SC at the same time.

Schalke coach Karel Geraerts, who had still not clarified whether he was sitting on the bench for the last time, had made significant changes to his starting eleven and squad. He left all the injured players at home and put captain Simon Terodde and Paul Seguin, normally a regular, on the bench. Terodde received the only Schalke trophy this season before the game – a career goalscorer’s crown from TV channel Sky for 177 goals in the second division.

On the pitch was a strengthened Schalke B-Elf made up of players who had been sidelined in the second half of the season (Tobias Mohr, Henning Matriciani, Lino Tempelmann, Bryan Lasme, Ibrahima Cissé) and a few key players such as Marius Müller, Ron Schallenberg and Kenan Karaman. From the very first second, a game with a nice atmosphere developed in front of 16,126 spectators in the sold-out Ronhof Sports Park – around 5,000 vociferous S04 fans were also present in Fürth. However, the match did not have a high memorable value.

However, Schalke could not be accused of lacking bite. They fought hard in tackles and collected three yellow cards in the first half hour. They made the more dangerous impression at the start. In the eleventh minute, Bryan Lasme missed a cross from Kenan Karaman by just centimetres. 60 seconds later, a shot from Yusuf Kabadayi was deflected out for a corner at the last moment. Kabadayi had S04’s best chance in the 20th minute. After a Lasme pass, he stormed towards goal alone but failed to beat goalkeeper Jonas Urbig. Keke Topp was completely free in the middle – he was very upset about Kabadayi’s selfishness.

Fürth, who had sent off six players before kick-off, only got into the game after around 30 minutes, but then put Schalke’s emergency defense in danger several times. Schalke now found it difficult to make the right moves, and the offense only produced numerous misplaced passes and crosses behind the goal.

The Fürth striker Armindo Sieb in particular was now given chance after chance. Sieb was gifted three good opportunities by Schalke – first Sieb was run down by Schalke’s Ibrahima Cissé (31′), then he shot over (40′) and past from a free position (45.+1). The score was 0-0 at the break – the stadium announcer had no goals to announce, but there were constant admonitions from the home fans, who repeatedly set off smoke bombs and pyrotechnics.

Little had happened before the break, but after the break both teams seemed to have quickly settled on a 0-0 final score. Although there were still many announcements about the setting off of pyrotechnics, there were hardly any penalty area scenes and the game just burbled along. Schalke’s shots from Kabadayi (50) and Topp (57/66) flew straight into the arms of goalkeeper Urbig. Fürth were nowhere to be seen up front until the 67th minute

Then something happened that had not been on the cards in this summer kickabout. Tim Lemperle strolled past the passive Schalke defense on the edge of the penalty area and a shot blocked by Steven van der Sloot fell at the feet of experienced Fürth captain Branimir Hrgota. He did not miss the chance from 15 meters out and gave Fürth a 1:0 lead.

It was the deciding factor; Schalke’s B team lacked the will and quality to turn this deficit around. On the contrary: Fürth took advantage of the space available to launch dangerous counter-attacks. Hrgota missed his second brilliant chance, shooting at S04 goalkeeper Marius Müller (72′).

Just three minutes after Karaman had missed Schalke’s only chance to equalize (79′, post), Lemperle made sure of the decision. Substitute U23 substitute Jimmy Kaparos lost the ball to Lukas Petkov. He played a simple cross into the middle and Lemperle confidently converted to make it 2:0.

After the final whistle, the Schalke players quickly boarded the bus for the long journey home to the Ruhr region. The professionals will meet once more for a farewell dinner, then it’s off on vacation. And one thing is clear: when the preparations for the 2024/2025 season begin, Schalke’s squad will have a completely different look