Schalke get knocked down, but get up again to show they are no joke | Andy Brassell


After several years of turmoil, Schalke look determined to preserve their Bundesliga status this season

If you’ve got an early chance to nail your colours to the mast and make a good impression with your new fans, you have to take it – and that’s exactly what Nico Schlotterbeck did. Earlier this week, shortly after making his Bundesliga debut for Borussia Dortmund, the young Germany centre-back was a guest on a chat show on the club’s in-house television channel in front of a live audience.

The Sky presenter Sebastian Hellmann, Schlotterbeck’s fellow panellist, mentioned an upcoming assignment at Schalke’s game with Borussia Mönchengladbach, the Top-Spiel (top game) of the second weekend of the league season, in the prime Saturday early evening, 6.30pm kick-off slot. “They have Top-Spiel in Schalke?” Schlotterbeck wryly chipped in, naturally bringing the house down with a ribbing of BVB’s local rivals.

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