Schalke ended the year with a surprising defeat. Coach Miron Muslic’s team lost their last game 1-2 (0-0) in Braunschweig.

Tired, harmless, weak in attack: With a performance that did not match their strong first half of the season and the euphoric mood at the club, autumn champions FC Schalke 04 went into the second division winter break. The Royal Blues lost 2-1 (0-0) to Eintracht Braunschweig in front of 23,080 spectators. Two former Schalke players scored for Eintracht. No team in the league is likely to be looking forward to the Christmas break as much as Schalke, who are severely weakened by substitutions. For Braunschweig, it was a special game for a number of reasons. The club celebrated its 130th birthday, and the fans had prepared a large choreographed display. Some players faced their former club, such as Mehmet Can Aydin, who had come through the Knappenschmiede youth academy. And Eintracht coach Heiner Backhaus faced his favorite club for the first time, which he even immortalized with a tattoo on his upper arm. “I’m a Schalke fan because that’s where I come from,” Backhaus said before the game.

This enthusiasm was evident in Eintracht’s play in the first half. They played with more bite, made a better impression, and were more determined in front of Schalke’s goal, without, however, shining with their combinations. Eintracht had the only two chances of the first half. In the eleventh minute, Leon Bell Bell appeared alone in the Schalke penalty area, but curled the ball just past the left post. Schalke goalkeeper Loris Karius would have had no chance.

Forty minutes had passed when Schalke’s Vitalie Becker cleared a Braunschweig cross, but the ball fell to Braunschweig’s Johan Gomez, who shot over the goal. Otherwise, Eintracht did not make enough of their decent play. Their numerous set pieces near the penalty area (six throw-ins, two free kicks, one corner) all came to nothing.

And Schalke? Their performance was in line with their mixed performances in previous weeks. The six points Schalke picked up in Düsseldorf (2-0) and Nuremberg (1-0) somewhat masked the team’s fatigue and susceptibility to errors. The defense made many avoidable mistakes in their build-up play. Two examples: Hasan Kurucay (14th minute) and Vitalie Becker (20th minute) gave the ball away through simple mistakes when receiving it.

Schalke often played the ball forward along the touchline. Braunschweig always defended well. The offense was nowhere to be seen. Only a header from Christian Gomis, which flew into the arms of goalkeeper Thorben Hoffmann (7th minute), created any danger. Gomis and Finn Porath had come into the team for Christopher Antwi-Adjei (Achilles tendon pain) and Mika Wallentowitz (bench). However, they were unable to capitalize on their opportunity. At half-time, the score was 0-0 in a game without any major highlights. Coach Miron Muslic had a quarter of an hour to get his team ready for the last three-quarters of an hour of the year, to wake them up again. But it didn’t work. Eintracht remained the dominant team and played even more aggressively. In the 58th minute, Bell Bell ran alone towards the goal, but failed to get past goalkeeper Karius, who for a long time seemed to be the only one fighting against an impending defeat. A minute later, Mehmet Can Aydin shot a free kick from the edge of the penalty area over the goal. In the 60th minute, Aydin did better. He took a shot from 18 meters out, which was deflected by Schalke’s defensive leader Nikola Katic and flew into the goal. Aydin refrained from celebrating, but the enthusiastic Eintracht fans did not. Just three minutes later, Christian Conteh almost sealed the deal. He also ran alone towards Karius, but was denied by Schalke’s goalkeeper.