Chapter 732: Disastrous February

After a draw against Hertha Berlin, they finally went back to Gelsenkirchen for two games in a row. Higo also took a deep breath as he could finally stay a little bit longer in his flat, not having to go out too much with the team. While he enjoyed different atmospheres in every away game, it would be a lie if the boy said that he wasn’t drained by it.

Now, they would start this February with two games in Veltins Arena, one against SC Paderborn and the second one against Mainz 05 a week later.

With that kind of schedule, though, the pressure was completely on Schalke’s side. After all, SC Paderborn and Mainz 05 were their rivals in the middle-bottom tier of the standings, with the first one sitting at the rock bottom and the latter now in 13th place, fighting to avoid relegation as well.

The game against SC Paderborn was even more important here. It wasn’t just because that team was the one currently at the rock bottom with a 12-game drought, hadn’t won anything since October, but also because the last team that SC Paderborn beat was Schalke themselves.

No one could forget the humiliation of getting beaten like that, and if they wanted to restore their pride, they had to pay back that shameful defeat ten-fold.

Or... So that was what they thought.

Unfortunately, once again, the team’s frontline disappointed everyone. When the defensive line was already stabilized and they managed to get so many clean sheets one game after another, the offensive line was stagnant.

The trio of Suat Serdar, Fabian, and Benito Raman once again failed to find the back of the net. It didn’t matter how great the threat was or how close they were to the goal, but somehow, SC Paderborn always made the right move to block them all away. Even if they couldn’t stop everything, their defensive pressure was enough to repel all the attacks, giving the team a sense of safety.

It was as if karma struck back at Schalke, as they now found themselves fighting against a team that put all 11 players in the penalty box. This was the exact same strategy as what Schalke did against Bayern, and this time, SC Paderborn managed to hold on until the end of the game.

In the end, nothing really happened in the game, and the final result was the same again, 0-0. This was definitely a disappointing result, setting them back to just one spot ahead of the relegation zone.

After that, Frohling tried to be smart, rotating the frontline with new blood who didn’t have too many playing minutes this season. Unfortunately, Mainz was not a team where they could try something new so easily, and there was also a reason why they were the permanent bench players before this.

The effect that Frohling wanted was nowhere to be seen, and if anything, they couldn’t coordinate well enough with the rest of the team like Morita, Omar Mascarell, and the two fullbacks on the flank. They were also bad at transition play, often jogging around lazily instead of putting on pressure to kill the opponent’s momentum.

Another 0-0 draw in the home game against two relegation rivals, which was bad for a team that was trying to avoid the relegation zone. Honestly, the only thing that made Schalke fans relieved was that the defense was still stronger than ever.

Since Higo started playing, the team had only conceded two goals out of five games so far, and those two all came from Bayern Munich’s frontline. He also became the best young player of the month in January, with so many crucial saves that he made.

Still, all of those things he had done were not enough, as the team still failed to score the goal that they wanted.

Then, in the third week of February, Schalke had to fly to Leipzig to face another strong team, the one and only RB Leipzig. They were currently sitting in third place, only behind Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

As everyone could expect, it was another tough game for the Gelsenkirchen team. Hell, it was close enough to the Bayern Munich game that they couldn’t get out of their own territory freely, being haunted by the thought of getting killed by the opponent’s quick counterattack.

Still, it seemed that luck was not on their side. After holding back the opponent for more than 80 minutes, in the 82nd minute, Higo finally had to suffer another goal.

This time, it came from Juan Miranda’s mistake in clearing the ball, as it only fell to the opponent’s playmaker, Marcel Sabitzer. This allowed the man to roam freely in the pocket space, sending a decisive pass toward the striker, Emile Frosberg, before anyone could stop him.

It only took a low shot to the far post for the man to seal the deal, breaking Higo’s two clean sheets record and also giving Schalke their first defeat in the month.

After that, to end this dark month, they had to face their quieter neighbor, FC Koln, in a home game, which ended up in a disaster. This time, Higo was so helpless as he witnessed his own goal being conceded twice in a foolish way.

The first one came from a penalty kick after Jonjoe Kenny accidentally blocked the opponent’s cross with his hand, where their striker, John Cordoba, managed to get the ball into the top bins without the goalkeeper could even touch it, and the second one came from an own goal as Ozan Kabak put the ball on the back of his own net beautifully with a header that Higo failed to anticipate.

Four games in a month, and this was definitely not one that Schalke could be proud of. They could only gather two points against opponents that they should be able to beat, which led them to fall once again into the relegation zone.

Still, at least, they could let out a sigh here, feeling relieved as this dark month was finally over.