In his midfield line-up Schalke coach Dimitrios Grammozis again decided against Rodrigo Zalazar in the starting eleven – who was nevertheless the most conspicuous eighth in Bremen.
In the starting line-up for the relegation duel at Werder, which ended scandalously from Schalke’s point of view, the two eights Dominick Drexler and Danny Latza were again in front of six-man Victor Palsson – just like in the defeat against Darmstadt, when Grammozis was spoilt for choice for the first time.
At the time, the coach had already stated that Latza would be his captain, so the choice for the second position was between Drexler and Zalazar, who after coming on as a substitute against the Lilien had caused quite a stir and had fired the most shots on goal for Schalke.
First the ball loss – later the assist
Once again, Drexler was chosen, but once again the ex-Cologne player remained rather pale. In Bremen, however, Zalazar came on at half-time for the yellow-carded Palsson and once again brought a breath of fresh air into the attack, even if one of the first actions was a bad ball loss in the build-up to the game.
Zalazar was also involved in the almost decisive scene from Schalke’s point of view: His shot from almost 25 metres was deflected forward by Werder keeper Jiri Pavlenka, Simon Terodde pushed the rebound over the line with his head for the lead. And anyway: Only Terodde had more shots on goal than the Uruguayan.
Ahead of the next home game against SV Sandhausen, Grammozis will probably again be faced with the question of who he should put in the eight position. It’s quite possible that Zalazar will then get another test from the start.
