Dimitrios Grammozis: We’ll take on the next challenge

Dimitrios Grammozis:

Firstly I would like to congratulate Friedhelm Funkel and Köln on the win. We knew we would be up against a side that were under pressure to win. Köln pressed us high up the pitch, which we expected. We were in the game in the first half and the lads gave their all in the final game, which is why it’s a shame to lose 1-0. We wanted to the end the season with a positive result. However, after the second half, Köln deserved the win. As Matthew Hoppe and Goncalo Paciencia tired up front, we struggled to keep the ball.

Going down with FC Schalke 04 is obviously anything but a positive thing. The important thing now is that we look ahead, which we’ve been doing for a while now. We want a team next season that will have a certain energy and will try to take games by the scruff of the neck. We will have to play a different role in Bundesliga 2 – we’re aware of that. We’ll take this challenge on and try to get the squad together as quickly as possible.

Friedhelm Funkel:

Schalke was a tough opponent today. We had to invest a lot and work really hard. We played how we had planned to and made a lot of chances for ourselves, especially in the second half. Ralf Fährmann made several excellent saves. We never gave up, even after the disallowed goal. The team deserved this victory. We now have the chance to stay in the Bundesliga and we want to achieve this goal.

Ralf Fährmann:

It’s a very emotional time for me right now. This day hurts because it’s the last Bundesliga game for FC Schalke 04 for a while now. It wasn’t a good season for us, so we deserved to go down. The table doesn’t lie. Now we have to pull our sleeves up and work hard so that our future can be positive. We have to draw a line under this season, gather ourselves and then go again. I will give my absolute all so that we can have success together again.