Matchday 33: Disappointed, but with hope: S04 must “suffer again”

The gripping thriller in the relegation battle stirred up Schalke players and fans long after the final whistle. After the Gelsenkirchen soccer pros and their supporters got in the mood for the big season finale at RB Leipzig in front of the curve, some of them clashed with the departing Frankfurters and fought verbal battles.

Following the highly emotional 2: 2 (1: 1) between FC Schalke 04 and Eintracht Frankfurt, supporters of the Revierclub and Hessen fought in the stands. Only when the Frankfurt fans climbed back into their away block after minutes of skirmishes did the situation calm down a bit.

The formation of packs on the pitch did not want Schalke’s later equalizer Sebastian Polter to hang too high with a little distance. According to their own statements, S04 coach Thomas Reis and his Frankfurt colleague Oliver Glasner had not even seen them. The Gelsenkirchen team had felt provoked by the outbound Frankfurters, who trotted to the penalty area in front of the Schalke fan curve.

A win would have brought Schalke 15th place

“We don’t do it away either. I think you have to have a bit of instinct,” said Polter in the stadium catacombs. Frankfurt’s captain Sebastian Rode commented on the scene: “I was at the interview and was only told that our players shouldn’t have run to 16 and that that would have provoked Schalke – yes, special people here.”

In the end, they didn’t really know what to do with the sporting result. A win would have brought 15th place, now the Revierclub has to hope for the blunders of the competition. Last but not least, the euphorically celebrated Polter goal to make it 2-2 kept the belief in another year in the Bundesliga intact.

Polter: “We limited the damage in the end”

“We all know what’s at stake – for the club, for the whole region. In the end we limited the damage,” said Polter. The fans supported the team after the game with loud cheering and urgent words from the lead singer of the Ultras. “It’s always special words when the inner life of the fans is brought back to the team,” said Polter. “We’re all in the same boat. That’s exactly what he conveyed to us: that we will all travel to Leipzig and win there.”

Coach Thomas Reis also believes in a surprise coup for the cup finalists from Saxony – despite all the disappointment about the missed win against Eintracht after an early 1-0 lead by Simon Terodde. “We really wanted to win, now it doesn’t feel so good, but starting tomorrow we’ll be looking ahead again,” he said on Sky, adding: “The fans are huge, they have to be able to suffer, they have to suffer again in Leipzig. We’ll try to achieve something that very few people trust us to do. Maybe it will also be the relegation rank, which we would take with us.”