Christian Heidel predicted Naldo’s injury-time goal

Schalke 04 didn’t win the match in Dortmund, but the Royal Blues can feel victorious after the 151st competitive match against the BVB. “I think a game like that, even it was ‘only’ a draw, feels like a victory. If we go down like that in the future, no one in the team will have the feeling that we can’t turn the game around. I’m proud of the team; the boys are like a pack of wolves who never give up,” says Christian Heidel.

Naldo: We put the half-time scoreline to the back of our minds

The frames of mind of the sporting board and the Schalke fans in the stadium couldn’t have been more different at half time. Even the boldest optimists couldn’t see us coming back after going 4-0 down. Even Domenico Tedesco, who always thinks positively, saw it as too much of a task. “It wouldn’t have been realistic for us to say: ‘We want to come back and draw 4-4’,” admits the head coach. Nevertheless, the 32-year-old picked the right words for his half-time team talk. “The coach said that we had to put the half-time scoreline to the back of our minds and we should try to win the second half,” reveals Naldo. “And that’s exactly what we did!”

Schalke showed how much they wanted it, fought their way back into the game, didn’t lose possession – and scored. Guido Burgstaller scored the first, followed by Amine Harit. “Of course, you start to dominate then,” says Tedesco. “When Calli made 4-3 in the 86th minute, everyone finally started to believe we could do it.”

Heidel predicted the goal before the corner which led to the injury-time equaliser. “I told our sporting director Axel Schuster that I was taking a quick sip of water because Naldo was going to head it in and I wanted to celebrate,” says the 54-year-old. Naldo could barely believe it himself. “I’m 35 years old, but I’ve never experienced something like that in my lifetime,” the goalscorer says on his 4-4 equaliser. “I’ll never forget it.”

Tedesco rewards energetic performance with a day off

Even Leon Goretzka, who was making his 100th Bundesliga appearance, was almost speechless after the final whistle. “If the game had been just five minutes longer, we’d have even had a chance to get a fifth. It was totally overwhelming,” says the Germany international.

Tedesco honoured the energy the team had put in with a day off from training on Sunday. “The boys asked if they could have tomorrow off and I gave it to them. They’ve earned it after this game,” said the coach. After the team catches its breath back, the focus will shift to the next game against Köln on Saturday. “That will be anything but easy,” acknowledges Heidel. “But Köln are also definitely not looking forward to facing us.”