Even when things are going well with Schalke, you’re only ever half-a-mile away from getting a puncture
Sometimes you start out with the idea of a refreshing weekend away in Berlin – and end up tired and nursing a headache. Schalke may have arrived in the capital for Friday’s weekend opener with Hertha full of “new dynamism and new self-confidence”, according to their coach Domenico Tedesco beforehand, but their aim of snaring a third successive Bundesliga win didn’t go to plan.
Not only that, but the hangover will be felt for most of this week, and perhaps beyond. Tedesco could have few complaints over his side’s efforts, which backed his assessment of an upturn towards the output of his debut season. His newly-attacking Schalke led twice in a busy first half via a super effort from range by Yevhen Konoplyanka – restored to the line-up for the banned Weston McKennie – and one from Mark Uth, but were pegged back twice, with Vedad Ibisevic’s equaliser on the stroke of half-time ultimately earning Pal Dardai’s team a point.
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Hertha Berlin 2-2 Schalke, Werder Bremen 2-2 Eintracht Frankfurt, Wolfsburg 0-3 Bayer Leverkusen, Freiburg 2-4 Hoffenheim, Mainz 2-1 Nurnberg, Mönchengladbach 2-0 Augsburg, Borussia Dortmund 5-1 Hannover, Fortuna Düsseldorf 0-4 Leipzig, Bayern Munich 4-1 Stuttgart
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