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FC Schalke 04: 5 things we learned from 0-0 draw with Hertha

By Kevin Parvizi

31 January 2020, Berlin: Football: Bundesliga, Hertha BSC - FC Schalke 04, 20th matchday in the Olympic Stadium. Javairo Dilrosun (r) and Per Skjelbred (l) of Hertha against Omar Mascarell of Schalke. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa - IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the regulations of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga and the DFB Deutscher Fußball-Bund, it is prohibited to exploit or have exploited in the stadium and/or from the game taken photographs in the form of sequence images and/or video-like photo series. (Photo by Soeren Stache/picture alliance via Getty Images)
31 January 2020, Berlin: Football: Bundesliga, Hertha BSC - FC Schalke 04, 20th matchday in the Olympic Stadium. Javairo Dilrosun (r) and Per Skjelbred (l) of Hertha against Omar Mascarell of Schalke. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa - IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the regulations of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga and the DFB Deutscher Fußball-Bund, it is prohibited to exploit or have exploited in the stadium and/or from the game taken photographs in the form of sequence images and/or video-like photo series. (Photo by Soeren Stache/picture alliance via Getty Images) /
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FC Schalke 04 were unable to find the breakthrough goal, but they did hold Hertha Berlin to zero shots on target in their goalless draw at the Olympiastadion.

After last weekend’s disastrous 5-0 loss to Bayern Munich, FC Schalke 04 were happy to get back on track defensively with a clean sheet in a tough road game against the revamping Hertha Berlin, who are playing well-organized football under new manager Jurgen Klinsmann.

That organized structure ended up being put to use against the Royal Blues, who could not break the deadlock on Friday evening despite taking 13 shots at Rune Jarstein’s goal. Only five of those shots were on target, and only a few of them were remotely threatening for the Norway international.

Here are five things we learned from Schalke’s 0-0 draw to Hertha, which contained more positives than negatives, especially after last week’s soul-crushing loss to Bayern.

1. Omar Mascarell is something else

Omar Mascarell is truly a special captain for Schalke. David Wagner used a back three with Jonjoe Kenny out, pushing Daniel Caligiru into a right wing back role that he was familiar with under Domenico Tedesco. Thus, Schalke played with a back three, as Mascarell was something of a “Libero” in between Matija Nastasic and Ozan Kabak.

Whenever Schalke needed to start an attack, it was Mascarell who found teammates with long passes, peppering all areas of the pitch with accurate balls. And defensively, the Spain international was as assured as ever, working hard to clean up attacks before they could develop.

Mascarell was all over the pitch, finishing with two tackles and three interceptions, per WhoScored.com. He led the team with a whopping 95 passes, completing 87.4% of them, even though most of his passes were difficult ones into the far corners of the pitch.

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