A draw at the Volkswagen Arena means VfL Wolfsburg has equalled a club record of 20 league games unbeaten at home. It also means that Schalke 04 have not won in the league for five games.
After a goalless first-half, Schalke’s teenage prodigy Leroy Sane gave the visitors the lead in the 53rd minute against the run of play, with a sublime 75-yard run and finish. Following their hammering at the hands of Napoli in the Europa League 72 hours earlier, it looked as though Wolfsburg were set for another disappointing result. Fortunately for home side, Kevin De Bruyne stepped up once again and smashed home an equaliser in the 78th minute. It was the midfielder’s 10th of the season, equalling his best tally in a German season, which he achieved in the 2012/13 season for Werder Bremen. The point was much deserved for Wolfsburg, who dominated the match and ended with a grand tally of 26 shots on goal.
Schalke’s defence continues to improve
Since the turn of the year Schalke have only conceded 11 league goals, three of them coming in one match away to Borussia Dortmund. Roberto Di Matteo has a clear focus on defence, and a large reason for their ability to restrict the opposition can be attributed to goalkeeper. In this match alone, Fahrmann made eight saves and also had 64 touches of the ball, which was the second most for the Royal Blues – only holding midfielder Roman Neustadter saw more of the ball.
Huntelaar comes up empty once more
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar failed to score in the league once more, his last goal in the Bundesliga coming on November 29 when Schalke played FSV Mainz 05. Top scorer Maxim Choupo-Moting was unavailable due to illness and it was Jefferson Farfan’s first full game in over a year, therefore the scoring burden fell heavily on the shoulders of Huntelaar. Two shots for the entire match – one missing the target and the other blocked – is not effective output for a striker. However, there is a strong case that the midfield need to support and try to engineer more chances for the out-of-form forward, after they managed to produce a meagre seven over the 90 minutes.
Schalke’s Champions League dream all but over
Schalke’s talented squad won’t return to Champions League football in season 2015/16, falling 12 points behind fourth placed Borussia Monchengladbach. It will be the first time since the 2011/12 campaign that Schalke have not qualified for the prestige European tournament. Aside from that disappointment, they may even have a battle on their hands to gain a position in the Europa League next term with Bremen, Hoffenheim and Dortmund within touching distance.
Bayern Munich remain in a league of their own
Considering the dramatic decline of perennial challengers Dortmund, plus the impending arrival of their new manager Thomas Tuchel, it is fair to say that Bayern Munich need new competition. At the present time it would appear that Wolfsburg have mounted the strongest case to compete with the German powerhouse. Investing heavily in classy midfield players to compliment a quality defence, Wolfsburg have managed to take their game to another level this season. However, they have a similar issue to Schalke when it comes to striking options, with only one high calibre goal scorer on their books, Bas Dost. After a blistering start to the season, Dost’s last goal for Wolfsburg in all competitions came almost two months ago. Adding a striker with more pace to their squad might be the perfect option to give Wolfsburg a different avenue to goal. Palermo ace Paulo Dybala is rumoured to be on the market and it would be remiss of Wolfsburg not to enquire.
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