Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Schalke went second in the Bundesliga for the first time in five years on Sunday after a solid if unspectacular 2-0 win over Hamburg.
But more importantly for many of the fans on the blue and white side of the Ruhr, the result put the Royal Blues three points clear of bitter rivals Dortmund ahead of next week’s derby.
Schalke knew that a draw would be enough to put them ahead of “the others” after Peter Bosz’s struggling Black & Yellows lost to newly-promoted Stuttgart on Friday night – their fourth defeat in their last five Bundesliga games.
But goals from Franco Di Santo (penalty) and Guido Burgstaller secured all three points against a harmless Hamburg and sent Schalke second for the first time since November 2012.
“The table isn’t important, we honestly don’t look at it,” insisted manager Domenico Tedesco. “The fans can react to it though and they have every right to be happy about it.”
Out-of-form striker Di Santo gave Schalke the lead in a cagey first half where most of the fireworks came from the Hamburg ultras in the away end.
But in the second half, Schalke took control and doubled the lead through striker Burgstaller – although the credit must go teammate Daniel Caligiuri who drove at the Hamburg defence at pace, beating two men before squaring across the box to set up the deciding goal.
“I know what it’s like to defend against players who run with the ball,” Caligiuri told reporters. “I’m not exactly a slow player as you saw, so I tried it and thankfully it resulted in a goal.”
The win extended Schalke’s unbeaten league run to six games, putting them back in contention for a return to European competition, where the demanding supporters feel they belong - “International football is more important than being ahead of Dortmund,” opined one fan.
But, when asked by The Sportsman, Tedesco insisted it’s too early to think about the Champions League. “We don’t have any expectations regarding what happens in May,” he replied. “It would be fatal to think like that in the Bundesliga. We’ve still got quite a few games to go and we’ll approach them all at full throttle.”
Ominously for the rest of the league, Schalke’s impressive run of form, including four wins and two draws, has been achieved largely without injured midfield star Leon Goretzka. The 22-year-old has been the subject of transfer speculation linking him with a move away from Gelsenkirchen, following in the footsteps of Manuel Neuer, Julian Draxler, Mesut Özil and Leroy Sané before him.
And despite completing some running exercises earlier in the day, the German international was still judged unfit to play against Hamburg, but Tedesco is “optimistic” he will be fit to face Dortmund next week. It’s shaping up to be the biggest Revierderby in years and the Bundesliga’s second youngest coach is looking forward to it.
“It’ll be my first derby,” said Tedesco, who took over Schalke at the start of the season after rescuing second division Erzgebirge Aue from relegation. “I’ve heard what goes on and I’ve got good memories of the atmosphere as a spectator. Football lives from these rivalries.”
