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SCHALKE RELEGATED FROM THE BUNDESLIGA AFTER 30 YEARS OF STAY

Bottom side Schalke had their relegation confirmed by a 1-0 defeat at Arminia Bielefeld after 30 consecutive years in Germany’s top flight.

Earlier, RB Leipzig crashed to a 2-1 defeat at second-from-bottom Cologne, whose captain Jonas Hector scored the first Bundesliga brace of his career to end a miserable run of nine league games without a win.

“Cologne fought and showed passion,” admitted Leipzig attacking midfielder Emil Forsberg.

“We had a few chances, but unfortunately we aren’t taking advantage of them at the moment and, of course, we are disappointed about that.”

After a goalless first-half in Cologne, the match burst into life after the break.

Germany international Hector headed his side into the lead just 56 seconds into the second half with the visitors’ defence napping.

Leipzig hit back on 59 minutes when Malian midfielder Amadou Haidara was left unmarked to launch his shot from the edge of the area past Cologne goalkeeper Timo Horn.

Just 100 seconds after Cologne conceded the equaliser, Hector struck again when he collected a flick just outside the box, held off his marker and fired into the bottom corner.

“Today, everyone did everything for the win— that is crucial for the coming weeks,” added Jonas Hector with Cologne still in one of the automatic relegation places.

The result boosts Cologne’s survival hopes with games against mid-table sides Augsburg and Freiburg to come before facing strugglers Hertha Berlin away on the last day of the season.

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BUNDESLIGA: BORRUSIA ENDS WINLESS RUN WITH 3-0 VICTORY AT SCHALKE

FC Schalke 04 were beaten 3-0 by Borussia Mönchengladbach at the VELTINS-Arena on Saturday evening, helping Mönchengladbach break their winless run in the league in a while. Lars Stindl opening the scoring in the first half, before Stefan Lainer added a second and then Frederik Rönnow scored an unlucky own goal.

Dimitrios Grammozis made two changes to the side that lost in Wolfsburg last weekend. Omar Mascarell, who missed that game after accumulating five yellow cards, replaced Amine Harit, while Matthew Hoppe came into the starting XI for Alessandro Schöpf. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar made the bench after his recent injury troubles.

The visitors enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening stages at the VELTINS-Arena, which meant Schalke looked to create chances from quick counter attacks. Despite several promising openings, the final pass was often lacking for the Royal Blues.

Gladbach took the lead after a quarter of an hour. Marcus Thuram burst down the left-hand side and his cross was parried by Frederik Rönnow. William’s clearance didn’t have enough on it and it fell to Florian Neuhaus. His shot was blocked, but Lars Stindl hammered the rebound into the roof of the net (15’). Referee Tobias Stieler allowed the goal to stand after discussions with VAR in Cologne as there were claims that the ball went out before Thuram’s cross.

Benito Raman’s shot from range flew over the Gladbach goal with 27 minutes played. Nonetheless, the away side continued to have the best opportunities after going ahead. Alassane Pléa couldn’t get on the end of Stefan Lainer’s inviting cross across the box (32’). Two minutes later, Pléa played it through to Thuram, who saw his shot just go wide into the side-netting. Florian Neuhaus then found space in the box with some nice skill, however his strike ended up in the same place as Thuram’s.

Schalke’s best moment of the first half came five minutes before the end. Sead Kolasinac dribbled through the middle until the edge of the box and played it to Kerim Calhanoglu on the left. The full-back’s powerful shot was punched away by Yann Sommer.

Borussia continued to carve out more chances in the second half and Schalke’s efforts going forward never came to fruition. Instead, Rönnow was in action frequently. The Dane tipped over an attempt from Pléa to keep the score at 1-0 (57‘). Six minutes later, however, he was beaten for a second time – Stefan Lainer was left unmarked from a corner and he headed home at the front post (63’).

Twenty minutes before full time, Rönnow parried a Neuhaus shot from distance (71’), but moments later he was picking the ball out of the net following an unfortunate own goal. Nico Elvedi headed on goal from a Pléa cross and the ball slipped away from the goalkeeper on landing and carried just over the goal line for a third Gladbach goal (73’).

Comfortably in the lead, the visitors controlled the final 15 minutes of the affair, but other than a Thuram effort saved by Rönnow (76’), there were no more notable chances.

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SCHALKE FIRE MANAGER CHRISTIAN GROSS AFTER TWO MONTHS IN CHARGE

Schalke have fired manager Christian Gross on Sunday after just two months in charge along with four senior staff, in a desperate bid to avoid Bundesliga relegation.

The Gelsenkirchen-based club is bottom of the league and nine points from safety with 11 games remaining.

Gross was fired a day after a 5-1 loss at Stuttgart, leaving Schalke looking for their fifth coach of a turbulent season.

The 66-year-old Swiss coach arrived in December with more than 30 years of coaching experience around the world, including a spell with Tottenham from November 1997 to September 1998, but hadn’t coached in Europe since 2012.

He led the team to its only win of the season to end a 30-game winless run in the Bundesliga, but couldn’t build on that, with Schalke earning just five points from his ten league games in charge.

David Wagner was fired as manager in September before his successor Manuel Baum followed in December. The team played two games under stand-in Huub Stevens before appointing Gross.

Sporting director Jochen Schneider, who was due to leave at the end of the season, was also fired, as was the team coordinator Sascha Riether, lead fitness coach Werner Leuthard and assistant coach Rainer Widmayer.

Schneider on Saturday denied reports of mutiny within the squad amid reports that several players had asked for Gross to be replaced.

Schalke didn’t name a new coach and said Monday’s training session would be conducted by fitness coaches.

The club said Peter Knabel, who heads the youth department, would take over Schneider’s sporting director role until further notice, with “a view to planning for the new season”, a sign the club is preparing for its first season in the second tier since 1991.

Former Germany striker Gerald Asamoah moves up from overseeing the under-23 team into Riether’s coordinator role.

‘The sporting situation is clear. That’s why we have to think beyond the season for every decision regarding personnel,’ said Jens Buchta, chairman of the supervisory board.

He added: ‘At the same time the team is obliged to play the last third of the season as successfully as possible. The players owe it to the club and the fans.’

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LIVERPOOL COMPLETE LOAN DEAL FOR OZAN KABAK

Liverpool have completed the transfer of Ozan Kabak from Schalke 04 on loan until the end of the season, subject to international clearance.

The 20-year-old defender will spend the remainder of 2020-21 with the Reds after he put pen to paper on the deal on deadline day.

Kabak completed the formalities of the switch in Germany and will travel to Merseyside later this week.

The Turkey international arrives at Anfield after two years in the Bundesliga, where he represented VfB Stuttgart before joining Schalke in July 2019.

Prior to moving to Germany, Kabak came through the ranks at Galatasaray, where he gained Champions League experience with four appearances in the tournament in 2018-19.

On the international front, he has earned seven caps for Turkey to date.

He will wear No.19 for Liverpool.

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SCHALKE END 30-GAME WINLESS RUN AS MATHEW HOPPE SCORES HATRICK IN 4-0 WIN OVER HOFFENHEIM.

Schalke finally ended their 30-game winless run as 19-year-old Matthew Hoppe bagged a hat-trick to help give the Bundesliga side their first league victory in 358 days.

The German side are on their fourth manager of the season and were rock bottom of the table with their last three points coming on January 17, 2020.

But their 4-0 victory over Hoffenheim means they have moved off the foot of the table and avoided equalling a league record of 31 games without win, which was set more than 50 years ago.

The result is a huge relief for the players and staff and it seems former Schalke star Weston McKennie was also overjoyed with the win.

McKennie, who left Schalke for Juventus in August, tagged the club in a celebratory video on social media in which he sang in German.

The club shared the post with the caption: ‘Once a Schalker, always a Schalker.’

It was McKennie’s United States team-mate Hoppe who was the star of the show with the youngster scoring his first three senior goals in only his fifth appearance.

Amine Harit was the provider for each of Hoppe’s strikes and the midfielder got on the scoresheet himself to round off an emphatic victory.

Christian Gross was appointed as the club’s new manager on December 27 after Huub Stevens was sacked. Manuel Baum and David Wagner were also axed by the German club earlier this season.

Gross suffered a 3-0 defeat by Hertha Berlin in his first game in charge on January 2 but will now be hoping this result can be a turning point in the club’s campaign.

The win also came on Sead Kolasinac’s first game back for the club after he joined on-loan from Arsenal last week.

The defender captained the side and received a congratulatory message from his Gunners’ team-mate Mesut Ozil.

The midfielder tweeted: ‘Yessss my brother!!! Ladies and gentlemen – The Kolasinac Effect! Maschiiiine!!!’

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EMRE CAN TESTS POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS.

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Emre Can has tested positive for coronavirus ahead of Saturday’s derby agains Schalke.

The ex-Liverpool star is not suffering from any symptoms and has already entered a 14-day period of self-isolation in order to prevent the spread of the disease.

Can will miss the Bundesliga clash against Dortmund’s bitter rivals, but the club have confirmed that the game will go ahead as planned.

The 26-year-old was the only member of Dortmund’s playing and backroom staff to return a positive test on Friday.

The club delayed their training session by 90 minutes following talks with the Dortmund health department, but they will host Schalke at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday as scheduled.

Can missed the midweek Champions League defeat by Lazio due to suspension and has now been ruled out of games against Zenit St Petersburg and Arminia.

He is likely to return against Club Bruges on November 4, providing he tests negative for Covid-19 in the run up to the game.

Can becomes the latest big name to contract the disease, with Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo currently in self-isolation after being infected on international duty with Portugal earlier this month.

Other players to have tested positive for coronavirus in recent months include Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez and Crystal Palace new boy Jack Butland, who was also diagnosed on Friday.

Meanwhile, Dortmund go into Saturday’s game with second-bottom Schalke third in the Bundesliga table after three wins and a draw so far this season.