Karaman and Terodde on the scoresheet in final pre-season friendly against FC Twente

Müller starts in goal

Marius Müller started in goal against FC Twente, with Marcin Kaminski and Leo Greiml partnering each other at centre-back. Ron Schallenberg lined up in defensive midfield, with new S04 captain Simon Terodde leading the line. New signing Lino Tempelmann missed the match due to illness. 

Greiml suffers early injury – Vlap opens the scoring for Twente

Head coach Thomas Reis was forced to make his first change in the eighth minute, after Leo Greiml landed awkwardly and had to be subbed out. He was replaced by Ibrahima Cissé. The guests began to dictate the play in the opening quarter of an hour, taking the lead in the 15th minute through Michel Vlap. The midfielder got on the end of a through ball from Joshua Brenet, and got the better of Marius Müller in a one-on-one. Sem Steijn nearly doubled their advantage just minutes later, as his shot crashed off the bar. 

Karaman and Terodde put Schalke ahead – Twente respond instantly

The Royal Blues then started to create chances of their own, as Terodde found Schallenberg, but his shot went just over the bar (28’). Five minutes later, a corner from Thomas Ouwejan was headed in by Karaman to level the scores. The hosts continued to seek opportunities to attack, with Terodde just a step too late to get a foot on a low cross into the box by Tobias Mohr (33’). 

Terodde would put the Royal Blues ahead in the 42nd minute, dummying a cross from Mohr. Twente’s Gijs Smal intercepted it, but the ball fell back to the Schalke captain, who slotted home from a tight angle. The lead wouldn’t last long, however, as Twente would equalise immediately after the restart. Müller was able tip Dean Rots’ shot onto the woodwork, but Steijn was on hand to tap in the equaliser (44’). 

Narrow miss from Cissé – Unüvar nearly scores late on

Reis made two changes at halftime, bringing on Sebastian Polter and Bryan Lasme for Terodde and Ouwejan. The second half saw fewer chances on both ends, but still provided plenty of entertainment for the over 30,000 in attendance. After a cross from Henning Matriciani, Danny Latza attempted to redirect a header on target, but narrowly missed (48’). Cissé also came close on the hour mark, but just missed connecting with the ball after a cross from Mohr. 

The 61st minute saw Reis bring on five new players, with Niklas Tauer, Paul Seguin, Assan Ouédraogo, Soichiro Kozuki and Cedric Brunner entering the pitch for Matriciani, Schallenberg, Latza, Karaman and Drexler. The Royal Blues were enjoying the majority of the ball midway through the half, with Polter taking a shot from just inside the box that was caught by goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall (68’). The goalkeeper was also on hand to deny Kozuki from a tight angle (70’). 

The guests created few chances in the second half, as the Royal Blues limited them to a shot from Manfred Ugalde in the 73rd minute. Twente nearly netted a last-minute winner, but Naci Ünuvar set his shot over the bar after a late counter-attack. With nothing to separate the sides, the game ended in a 2-2 draw.  

Season opener at Hamburger SV

The Royal Blues will get the 2023/24 season underway when they open the Bundesliga 2 season away at Hamburger SV on Friday (28/7). Kick-off is set for 20:30 CEST at the Volksparkstadion.