The FC Schalke 04 U19s lost 3:2 at Bayer 04 Leverkusen and will therefore probably have to bid farewell to the battle for the final round of the German championship.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s A-Youth team defeated FC Schalke 04’s U19s 3:2, with Francis Onyeka (37), Ken Eghosa Gideon Izekor (43) and David Widlarz (58) scoring the first three goals for Leverkusen. Schalke came back into the game at the end. First Taylan Bulut scored from the penalty spot (80′), then Jean Paul Ndiaye added a header (86′). However, the 3:3 was no longer possible.
Despite the defeat, Norbert Elgert was not dissatisfied with the match: “It was a completely open game for 90 minutes. We didn’t take our two big chances and then gave away one gift after the other. You could say we deserved it, but because we were more effective.”
The Schalke U19 coach added: “Leverkusen are a great team. Financially, we’re not in a position to keep up with them at the moment. Nevertheless, I’m absolutely satisfied with my team’s performance. The attitude, the commitment, the work against the ball and also the goal threat were right.”
For Norbert Elgert’s team, the defeat meant losing second place to Leverkusen, who now have one point more to their name and have played one game less. With five games remaining, it looks as if they will miss out on a place in the final round of the German championship.
For Elgert, Bayer 04’s victory would “most likely” decide the battle for second place. But that is only of secondary importance to the Gelsenkirchen native and his team, as he explains: “We want to give it our all every week and then we’ll end up where we belong. And that’s all right. No matter what happens. “
On the other side, an old acquaintance was able to celebrate. S04’s long-standing assistant coach, Sven Hübscher, was delighted with the success: “We made it unnecessarily tense at the end. I think it was a deserved win. We invested a lot. In the end, we got the job done and are very happy about that.”
Unlike Elgert, Hübscher does not believe that the battle for second place has been decided yet: “It was by no means a preliminary decision. We just took our chance to overtake Schalke and are now looking ahead to the next game.”
Bayer Leverkusen travel to SC Verl during the week (Wednesday, April 10, 7 p.m.) and then to Alemannia Aachen at the weekend (Sunday, April 14, 11 a.m.). Schalke do not have to play again until the weekend at basement club Wuppertaler SV (Saturday, April 13, 11 a.m.).