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FC Schalke 04: 5 things we learned from 2-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen

By Kevin Parvizi

07 December 2019, North Rhine-Westphalia, Leverkusen: Soccer: Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen - FC Schalke 04, 14th matchday in the BayArena. Schalkes Ozan Kabak (r) and Schalkes Weston McKennie are on the court after the match. Photo: Guido Kirchner/dpa - IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the requirements of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga or the DFB Deutscher Fußball-Bund, it is prohibited to use or have used photographs taken in the stadium and/or the match in the form of sequence images and/or video-like photo sequences. (Photo by Guido Kirchner/picture alliance via Getty Images)
07 December 2019, North Rhine-Westphalia, Leverkusen: Soccer: Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen - FC Schalke 04, 14th matchday in the BayArena. Schalkes Ozan Kabak (r) and Schalkes Weston McKennie are on the court after the match. Photo: Guido Kirchner/dpa - IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the requirements of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga or the DFB Deutscher Fußball-Bund, it is prohibited to use or have used photographs taken in the stadium and/or the match in the form of sequence images and/or video-like photo sequences. (Photo by Guido Kirchner/picture alliance via Getty Images) /
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FC Schalke 04 rebounded in the second half of their Matchday 14 fixture against Bayer Leverkusen, but a late goal from Lucas Alario doomed them in the end, 2-1.

Bayer Leverkusen look like a dangerous team heading into 2020, because they followed up their 2-1 upset of Bayern Munich last week with a 2-1 win over FC Schalke 04 at the BayArena on Matchday 14.

Meanwhile, Schalke couldn’t get the job done in this one. They’ve played a lot of close games this season, especially recently, but whereas they picked up the winner last week via Suat Serdar, they could not find the 2-2 goal in the last 10 minutes.

Here are five things we learned from Schalke’s performance, which improved markedly in the second half after they were nearly run off the pitch in the first 45 minutes.

1. Schalke have resiliency

It’s easy to make a major takeaway from a loss a negative one, especially since Bayer Leverkusen were below Schalke in the table coming into this game. But Bayer were also only below Schalke by three points, are historically a great team in the Bundesliga, are coming off a win over Bayern, and are playing Champions League football this season.

So while this was a disappointing result for Die Knappen, there’s no shame in losing 2-1 to a team ready to make a surge up the league table.

But there is pride in doing what Schalke did. Over the first 45 minutes, they looked downright awful. Karim Bellarabi and Leon Bailey were freely winning one-on-ones out wide, Alexander Nubel made an error for Lucas Alario’s goal, and even Ozan Kabak looked shaky. Leverkusen pushed the Royal Blues until their backs were against the wall and prevented Schalke from every really progressing the ball beyond midfield.

David Wagner must have said something inspirational in the dressing room, because Die Knappen immediately turned it around in the second half. They outplayed Bayer in the second 45, even if they stumbled in the end after Kevin Volland proved to be a decisive spark for the home side.

Schalke fans should feel happy with the way the team fought and never gave up, nearly getting a point out of this game in the end. At one point, it looked like they could make the comeback from down 2-0 to get the win, but they had to settle for Benito Raman’s consolation goal.

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