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Ron Schallenberg: Full faith in the quality of the team
Slowly but surely, we’re approaching the finish line of the 2025/26 season. The Royal Blues will undoubtedly be full of drive and determination as they approach a high-stakes Easter Sunday (5/4) clash with Karlsruher SC, kicking off at the VELTINS-Arena at 13:30 CEST. “We want to get as much out of the next seven weeks as we possibly can,” said Ron Schallenberg.
The 27-year-old isn’t spending much time running the numbers or hypothesising potential outcomes as he looks ahead to how the next few fixtures could go for his side, or indeed for their competition at the top of the table. “We’ve put ourselves in a strong position as we head into the run-in, and of course, we can see how things look in the standings,” assessed the midfielder, emphasising as well that the most important game is always the one coming right up. “I think it will be an intense battle right up to the end of the season,” said Schallenberg.
The right-footer has been a near-constant presence in the middle of the park for the Knappen this season. Only in the side’s away game in Düsseldorf at the start of December did he miss out on the matchday squad due to a knock. Soufiane El-Faouzi, his partner in crime at the base of Schalke’s midfield, has played every single game so far this campaign, running out for the full 90 in all but one of them. “We have a really good relationship on the pitch,” said Schallenberg. Both halves of S04’s engine room are teetering on the edge of an unwelcome one-game break, though, with each having accumulated four yellow cards up to this point.
We want to get as much out of the next seven weeks as we possibly can.
“The fact that we’d have to sit out a game next time we see a yellow doesn’t really faze us when we’re playing,” said Schalke’s number 6. “Soufi and I will keep committing to our challenges, and we won’t be holding back any more than usual.” Even if one of the pair should be forced to miss a week’s action through a yellow-card suspension, Schallenberg has no doubt that this team can sufficiently cover any absences, as the group have shown time and again this campaign.
The midfielder is also confident that his side will find a way to replace the attacking output of centre forward Edin Džeko, who suffered an injury to his shoulder on international duty with Bosnia and Herzegovina. “The loss of Edin is a tough one for us, but it won’t knock us off course. We still picked up points consistently at the start of the season, before he arrived here.”
The Bosnia captain was forced to sit out S04’s recent 1-1 draw in Darmstadt through suspension. He was replaced in the number 9 role by Moussa Sylla under the lights of the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor. The forward opened the scoring on the night to put Schalke 1-0 up at the break, proving his quality in front of goal once again. “If you have a striker of this level who can come straight in as a replacement, you really don’t need to worry,” assured Schallenberg. “Moussa has just proved exactly how important he is to this team. We have full faith in him and the other lads in the forward line.”
