There was still half an hour left to play, yet Schalke coach Miron Muslic substituted his top players in Darmstadt. Why?

Only 63 minutes had passed in FC Schalke 04’s DFB Cup match at Darmstadt 98, and the Royal Blues still had 27 minutes plus injury time to at least equalize a 0-4 deficit and create a huge cup sensation. But Schalke coach Miron Muslic substituted his three top players early on: Nikola Katic, Moussa Sylla, and Kenan Karaman left the pitch. Too early?

No, Muslic had the same feeling on the bench as all 17,810 spectators in the stadium: the game was already over after Darmstadt’s third goal in the 48th minute. “The most positive thing about the first half was that we were only 0-2 down. But it’s also a deceptive and dangerous result. We sensed an opportunity and thought: If we stay stable, don’t concede a third goal early on and manage to score, things can quickly turn around. But in the second half, Darmstadt quickly exploited a mistake in our build-up play and sealed the deal with a 3-0 lead.”

There was no comeback from Schalke in the minutes that followed. That’s why Muslic reacted and made substitutions: “The result was clear after the third goal. So I had to take off the players who play all the time—Nikola Katic, Moussa Sylla, Kenan Karaman—as quickly as possible so they could recover.”

Translated: It wasn’t premature defeatism, but a realistic analysis. The final score remained 0-4 (0-2). The next game is already on Saturday – S04 will be playing for three points in the league at Karlsruher SC (1 p.m./Sky).

Muslic emphasized that he was able to “reintegrate” some players in the final phase, as he called it. “We reintegrated Peter Remmert after a three-month injury break. Max Grüger, who was also out for weeks, came back as well.” Anton Donkor and Amin Younes, who have had a difficult time with Muslic, played for the first time this season.