S04 lose 3-2 to Bologna in friendly

Three comebacks

Daniel Caligiuri made his first appearance of pre-season in the game vs. Bologna. The midfielder had been suffering with a groin injury since the end of last season, and had been unable to join in with most of the team’s training session. Alessandro Schöpf also celebrated his comeback. The Austrian, who came on for Caligiuri in the 23^rd minute, took to the field for the first time in over six months. Nassim Boujellab also made his return, scoring in his first appearance after recovering from a tendon problem.

Reese scores the opener

The Royal Blues got off to a flying start against the Italian side, who finished 10^th in Serie A last season. It took just nine minutes for Fabian Reese to get off the mark – the 21-year-old, playing at the top of coach David Wagner’s 4-2-3-1 formation, receiving the ball from Caligiuri on the right and scoring from close distance. Reese almost got a brace just five minutes later, but was unable to beat Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski at the far post.

FC Bologna worked their way back into the game after the early setback, and soon posed an attacking threat. Good compact Schalke defending helped snuff out any danger, but Rodrigo Palacio almost made the breakthrough after 30 minutes, firing at the near post after being played in by Roberto Soriano. Jonas Carls had a chance to put Schalke ahead at the other end just two minutes later, but his shot from Amine Harit’s layoff didn’t have enough power to test Skorupski in the Bologna net.

Bologna finally broke through in the 37^th minute through Andrea Poli. The Italian side’s captain’s shot from 15 yards took a touch off of Benjamin Stambouli and cruelly deflected past a stranded Alexander Nübel in the Schalke goal, making it 1-1. Nicola Sansone then doubled Bologna’s lead right on the stroke of half-time, firing in the far corner from the left-hand side of the penalty area.

Bad foul on Carls

Reese had a great chance to make it 2-2 straight after the restart. Harit played the striker through on goal, but great goalkeeping yet again from Skorupski prevented a Schalke equaliser. S04 combined well again in the 54^th minute, but substitute Nassim Boujellab’s effort landed in the arms of Bologna’s custodian. Palacio had Bologna’s first good chance in the 59^th minute and scored, rifling home from eight yards to make it 3-1.

The tempo of the match began to slow as the game wore on, mainly due to both teams making a multitude of substitutions. The Royal Blues looked to play the ball forwards in search of a goal. Reese had yet again another chance, but his shot was well saved by new Bologna keeper Angelo da Costa. Marcel Langer also headed over after Omar Mascarell’s corner in the 78^th minute.

There were ugly scenes towards the end of the match. Musa Juwara made a bad challenge on Jonas Carls, with the Schalke man unable to play on. The tackle resulted in a scuffle on the pitch between both teams, before play finally resumed two minutes later. Schalke got another goal while a man down, when Boujellab headed in from Mascarell’s corner. But it proved to be too little, too late, as Schalke succumbed to a 3-2 loss.

Two friendlies in one day

Two further friendlies await Schalke during their training camp in the High Tauern national park. The Royal Blues will compete in a double-header of friendlies on Friday, 2^nd August, when they play Alanyaspor at 14:00 CEST and Villarreal at 18:00 CEST.