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Schalke 04 competed in the 32nd round of the Bundesliga 2. They faced Dusseldorf at home and achieved a small victory with a score of 1-0. The only goal of the game was scored by captain Karaman in the 15th minute. "Miners" are 10 points ahead of third-place Hannover in the competition. Since the top two can be promoted directly, they locked in the qualification for promotion two rounds in advance. They successfully ushered in the opportunity to return to the Bundesliga three years after being relegated. In addition, if second-placed Paderborn fails to win when they go to Elvosberg for an away game on Sunday, Schalke can also lock in the Bundesliga Championship in advance.
In the 15th minute, Schalke captain Karaman scored the only goal of the game. The 32-year-old Turkish attacker has played 30 times in the league this season, scoring 14 goals and assisting 5 times. He is the team's top scorer and biggest contributor.
Last season, Schalke once faced the risk of bankruptcy and might even be relegated to the third tier. Just this Saturday, with flares appearing, mascots parading around the stadium, and fans jumping crazily in the stands, this club, one of the most traditional clubs in Europe, finally returned to the Bundesliga.
Due to the successful promotion to the First Division, Schalke's lineup budget limit for the new season will be increased from 22 million euros to 40 million euros. This is because the new main sponsor brings 6.8 million euros per year and the broadcast revenue has increased. However, given that the club has a debt of 151 million euros, the club's goal is to prevent another relegation situation in a year's time.
Schalke experienced relegation in 2021. At that time, the "Royal Blue" once again succumbed to the second-tier league after 30 years. Although it returned to the Bundesliga a year later, only one season later, the miners were relegated to the Bundesliga again and have been dormant until now.
"Miner" was able to break out of the ground this year, and the head coach Musliqi has made great achievements. It should be noted that in the previous two seasons in the German Second Division, the team only ranked 10th and 12th, and the team changed coaches every year. After successfully leading the team to the top flight, Muslic's contract was automatically extended to 2028. Although the 43-year-old Austrian coach's contract contains a termination clause for this summer, Muslic does not intend to leave.
Also staying in the team is Karius, who was reborn in the mine. As the main goalkeeper, he played 29 times in the league this season, contributed 12 clean sheets, and only conceded 24 goals. Among them, the 12 clean sheets were the highest in the league, and the 73% save success rate was also tied for the highest.
The 40-year-old is Bosnia and Herzegovina forward Dzeko. He transferred from Florence to Schalke on a free transfer during the winter window. In the 8 league games before joining, he scored 6 goals and 3 assists. However, in the World Cup qualifying play-off match against Italy at the end of March, he suffered an injury to his shoulder. Since then, he has been recuperating and is in a truce. It was not until this promotion battle that he returned as a substitute.
After the game, in an interview with Sky Sports Germany, the older player, when talking about his future, claimed that he made the right decision in this transfer. It is his dream to be promoted to the Bundesliga and participate in the World Cup with the Bosnia and Herzegovina team. Without Schalke, he may not be able to achieve this goal. Now let everyone enjoy it. At this moment, he had a few drinks and plenty of time to think about the next move. When he witnessed all this, this is the reason why he wanted to engage in football. He still didn't want to stop. He felt in good condition, but he was already forty years old. Let's see how he feels after the World Cup. We will sit down and communicate again later.