Season review: Schalke on a bumpy road
The Bundesliga season 2012/2013 for FC Schalke 04 was full of shadow and light. On the one hand there was the best season start for 41 years with coach Huub Stevens and a strong group stage in Champions League. But as the club failed to proceed with the strong performance in league play Stevens was fired just before the winter break. The new coach Keller started with being kicked out of DFB Pokal in December and out of Champions League in march. In the end the club however managed to achieve their season´s goal by finishing fourth in chart.
Huub Stevens (left) coached Schalke almost the full lenght of the first leg, Jens Keller was in charge for the rest of the season.
The Beginning of Bundesliga season 2012/2013 was quiet strong for FC Schalke 04 as they won six out of the first nine matches. The best start to a season for 41 years made them Bayern hunter number one in the middle of first leg. In one sensational week Schalke beat arch rival Borussia Dortmund on their home grounds and achieved the first victory in international cup on English territory against FC Arsenal.
As strong as they started as fast their decline came. At the end of first leg Schalke only gained two points out of the last six games and coach Huub Stevens was immediately fired despite the strong performances in Champions League with finishing first in the group stage against FC Arsenal, Montpellier and Piraeus.
Keller with rough start
The new head coach Jens Keller started rather badly as his team lost in the round of 16 against FSV Mainz 05 in DFB Pokal with 1-2 and was kicked out of the competition in his first match. In Bundesliga his first match was won but a series of four games without a victory followed. In Champions League Schalke was kicked out also in the round of 16 against Galatasaray Istanbul despite being the better team overall in the two matches.
In Bundesliga Schalke however started to win again and made their way up to the first four in chart but it was the last matchday that had to decide whether or not S04 would be playing Champions League qualification next campaign. In a final match against SC Freiburg Schalke won 2-1 and achieved their season´s goal in the last second with a strong Julian Draxler scoring the leading goal. The 19-year-old midfielder had become one of the key players for Schalke during season 2012/2013.
