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

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07 December 2019, North Rhine-Westphalia, Leverkusen: Soccer: Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen – FC Schalke 04, 14th matchday in the BayArena. Schalkes Omar Mascarell (l) and Leverkusens Charles Aranguiz fight for the ball. 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) /

2. Omar Mascarell is basically another defender

Schalke needed to play without Matija Nastasic, who suddenly picked up a knee injury. This absence forced Weston McKennie to start at center back again, and while Schalke had a rough go-around defensively due to Bayer’s brilliance, they did have two standout performances on defense that prevented this game from getting out of hand.

One of those performances was from Omar Mascarell. As poor as his passing was in midfield, Mascarell’s defending was exceptional. He looked like Casemiro out there, constantly covering all areas of the pitch and sticking his foot in to win challenges.

According to WhoScored.com, Mascarell had five tackles and six interceptions in this game. Those are incredible numbers, but they speak volumes to how much Schalke were pushed by Bayer’s attack. Mascarell had to do so much work defensively to keep Schalke in this game, but since the Royal Blues nearly made a late comeback, his hard work almost paid off.

3. Kutucu really has to play more

David Wagner decided to give Guido Burgstaller another start, seeing as how he scored in each of his previous games at the BayArena.

That logic didn’t go over well, of course, as Burgstaller had another anonymous display. Meanwhile, backup forward Ahmed Kutucu shined off the bench, once again playing a critical role in the build-up to a late goal. Kutucu first won the ball with a smart tackle, fed the ball to Amine Harit, and then latched onto Harit’s brilliant pass to square for Benito Raman.

At some point, Wagner has to acknowledge that Kutucu is too good to be on the bench, regardless of how much he wants to take things slowly with the 19-year-old.

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