Goalless draw against Shakhtar Donetsk

The Royal Blues drew 0-0 with Shakhtar Donetsk in their fourth pre-season friendly. 650 fans watched the game in Mittersill, which saw Schalke keep up their record of not conceding a single goal so far in pre-season.

FC Schalke 04 - Schachtar Donezk

Head coach Dimitrios Grammozis set up with a 3-5-2 formation, including Florian Flick at the centre of the back three. He was partnered by Malick Thiaw and Marcin Kaminski. Nassim Boujellab was handed a start up front alongside Simon Terodde. Danny Latza captained the team having been officially named as club captain on the morning of the game.

FC Schalke 04 - Schachtar Donezk

Fährmann keeps out Solomon

The side from Ukraine took less than a minute to create their first chance of the game. A long ball over the top found Manor Solomon and he was clear of the defence, one on one with Ralf Fährmann. Schalke’s keeper blocked his shot and then kept out an effort from distance shortly afterwards.

The opening stages were fairly even, with both sides looking to break down compact defences. The ball was in the back of Schalke’s net after a quarter of an hour, although it didn’t count as Lassina Traoré was offside.

04 minutes later, S04 had their first opportunity to score. Nassim Boujellab played it wide to Thomas Ouwejan, who cut inside and pulled the trigger, but couldn’t beat goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.

FC Schalke 04 - Schachtar Donezk

Terodde narrowly misses

Simon Terodde came close to breaking the deadlock for the Royal Blues after 25 minutes. Danny Latza won the ball back in the final third and then Boujellab gave it to Terodde. The striker, who has already scored six goals in pre-season, dragged his shot narrowly past the post. At the other end, Fährmann was quick off his line to clear a dangerous situation with his feet (29’).

Despite an intense pre-season, both teams looked to play the game at a high tempo. Shakhtar were slightly more dangerous, and had a bright moment in the 40th minute. Solomon got down the left and put an inviting ball across the six-yard box, which Traoré couldn’t get on the end of.

FC Schalke 04 - Schachtar Donezk

Three changes

Head coach Dimitrios Grammozis made three substitutions at the start of the second half. Markus Schubert replaced Ralf Fährmann in goal, while Kerim Calhanoglu and trialist Yaroslav Mikhailov came on for Thomas Ouwejan and Nassim Boujellab.

The first notable moment of the second period came through Marcin Kaminski. The Polish defender struck a long-range free-kick just over the crossbar (51’). A minute later, Schubert tackled Tete with his feet in the box to deny the Shakhtar striker a good chance. Schubert once again shone after 63 minutes, kicking away a shot from Traoré.

FC Schalke 04 - Schachtar Donezk

Seven more changes – Flick stays on

Grammozis then brought on seven more players just after Schubert’s save. Can Bozdogan, Omar Mascarell, Amine Harit, Hamza Mendyl, Reinhold Ranftl, Levent Mercan and Timo Becker all entered the field, meaning Florian Flick was the only player to be given the full 90 minutes.

It continued to be an even encounter, albeit without clear-cut chances. Amine Harit stole the ball from an opponent, but couldn’t pick out Mikhailov in a good position (73’).

Schalke continued to keep the Ukrainians away from their goal, however they couldn’t break them down either.  The final chance was for Reinhold Ranftl, his shot went past the far left post though (86’).

FC Schalke 04 - Schachtar Donezk

Return to Gelsenkirchen – Final friendly against Vitesse

Today’s game against Shakhtar marks the end of this year’s training camp in Mittersill. The Royal Blues will travel home to Germany tomorrow to continue their preparations for the new season, which kicks off on 23rd July against Hamburger SV. S04’s final pre-season friendly will be played exactly a week prior to that against Vitesse Arnhem at the Parkstadion (16/7, 18:00 CEST).

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