Ron Schallenberg: Step it up a notch against Freiburg

For Ron Schallenberg, Saturday’s friendly against Austria Lustenau (3/10) represented not only an opportunity to pick up game time, but also valuable experience. “We won and kept a clean sheet, which are two very positive things,” the midfielder said afterwards. Like teammate Vitalie Becker, Schallenberg is now also turning his attention back to the upcoming games in the Bundesliga.

Schallenberg provided the assist to Moussa Sylla’s match-winning header in the 68th minute by flicking on the ball from the front post. The Royal Blues were able to score in a similar manner in their previous friendly against Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, with head coach Miron Muslic complimenting the move after the game. “I was very pleased with the way we were able to score through Moussa,” he said. “That’s the sort of goal that we can also score in the Bundesliga.”

Ahead of their return to league action, the Royal Blues were also pleased to have managed to keep a clean sheet. Vitalie Becker played a key part in this success, saying: “It’s important to also manage to keep a clean sheet in a friendly in order to carry that feeling with you into the upcoming games.” Becker featured on the left side of Schalke’s back-three at the SUN MINIMEAL Arena, saying afterwards: “That was a new experience for me. I was able to play the way we wanted to and think that I did a good job of it.”

Schalke will now be aiming to do the same when they return to Bundesliga action away at SC Freiburg on Sunday (11/10). “We need to step it up a notch there,” Schallenberg said. The Breisgau side are currently in third place, after picking up ten points from their first four league games of the season.

The 27-year-old and his teammates are ready to tackle the upcoming challenges that lie ahead of them. “We have a long week ahead of us, in which we will be able to prepare ourselves for the Freiburg game,” he said. Over the course of the next few days, the nine players on international duty will begin to return to Gelsenkirchen. After an intense gym session on Sunday morning, the team will now have two days off at the start of the new week. After that, Schallenberg said, “We will quickly welcome our internationals back to the fold and then get started on tackling what’s next!”