FC Schalke 04 have to accept a setback a few weeks before the second half of the Bundesliga season kicks off: Thomas Ouwejan and Alex Král are likely to miss the first games against Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig. Both are not fully fit yet.
FC Schalke 04 is currently in a training camp in Belek, Turkey. There the players can prove themselves to coach Thomas Reis (49) before the start of the second half of the season. The ex-Bochum coach should prepare the team for the fight against relegation. The Bundesliga continues in two and a half weeks. Now it seems clear: Two players will probably miss the restart.
According to Sky information, the duo is said to be Thomas Ouwejan (26) and Alex Král (24). Both play a major role in the Knappen system, but are still suffering from injuries. Although the duo is on the right track, a match against Eintracht Frankfurt (January 21) and RB Leipzig (January 24) is considered unlikely, according to the TV station.
Left-back Thomas Ouwejan suffered a knee ligament injury on Matchday 12 against SC Freiburg and was not in the squad for the three games that followed before the World Cup break. The Dutchman decided to travel to Turkey for individual training. The return to team training seems imminent, but probably not within the ten days in the training camp.
Teammate Alex Král struggled with back problems during the World Cup break. In the last league game on November 12 against FC Bayern Munich (0:2), the Czech played the full distance. Just like Ouwejan, Král decided to travel to Belek with the team despite having only trained individually so far. It is currently not known when Král will return to team training.
In addition, Alexander Schwolow (30), Sepp van den Berg (21), Rodrigo Zalazar (23) and Leo Greiml (21) missed the start of team training. Schwolow is plagued by a gastrointestinal infection. The goalkeeper should return soon. Van den Berg is on site, but also trains individually after a torn ankle ligament. Zalazar (broken metatarsal) and Greiml (meniscus injury) didn’t even travel to the training camp.
This article was originally published on 90min.com/de as Bundesliga restart: Schalke 04 has to do without two top performers.
