Schalke is back in the Bundesliga – Promotion secured

FC Schalke 04 returns to the Bundesliga. With the 1:0 (1:0) win against Fortuna Düsseldorf, Schalke secured promotion already on the third-to-last matchday and, with 67 points, can no longer be displaced from one of the top two spots. For the visitors, the situation is becoming more precarious: Düsseldorf remains under pressure at the bottom of the table and must continue to fight for survival. (ZDFheute)

Early lead, clear structure: Schalke seizes the moment

Schalke approached the game with the determination of a team that does not want to postpone the decisive step – and set the tone early. In the 15th minute, Sofiane El-Faouzi won the ball at the halfway line, Adil Aouchiche set up Kenan Karaman, who scored impressively into the top corner. It remained the only goal of the evening – and the key moment.

Just four minutes later, Schalke could have added another: Aouchiche hit the right post with a free kick from 20 meters in the 19th minute. After that, it became clear what made this game so valuable for the hosts: Schalke kept the match in stable order, rarely allowed Düsseldorf into dangerous areas, and defended the narrow lead with control instead of panic.

The victory fits into the form curve of recent weeks: it was Schalke's fifth win in a row – a streak that not only delivers points but also shows a team that embraces the pressure of a promotion match and translates it into structure.

Düsseldorf's best chance – Karius prevents the turning point

Offensively, Fortuna Düsseldorf offered little for a long time. The clearest opportunity only arose in the 59th minute, when Shinta Appelkamp appeared free in front of Loris Karius. Schalke's goalkeeper made the save – and thus prevented exactly the moment when a game with a slim lead can tip.

So Schalke remained in the position this match demanded: not spectacular, but reliable. For Düsseldorf, the evening weighed even heavier because the team too rarely found the means going forward to put Schalke under sustained pressure – and thus too rarely got into the zones where an equalizer becomes enforceable.

Comeback and continuity: Dzeko returns, Muslić sticks with his eleven

In the 68th minute, there was an additional highlight: Edin Dzeko returned to the squad after his shoulder injury and celebrated his comeback. Coach Miron Muslić had previously relied on the starting eleven that had earned the "match point" with a 3:2 win in Paderborn the previous week – an expression that in such weeks sounds less like a metaphor and more like reality: Whoever seizes this opportunity spares themselves the nervous calculations of the final matchdays.

Schalke's starting position also remains comfortable: If the first pursuer SC Paderborn slips up at SV Elversberg on Sunday, Schalke can already celebrate the championship this weekend.

State of emergency in Gelsenkirchen – and the security question as background music

Already in the early afternoon, a state of emergency prevailed in Gelsenkirchen. From 4 p.m., tens of thousands of fans walked the roughly 3.5 kilometers from the marketplace in Buer to the arena. Around the stadium, far more people gathered than the just over 60,000 ticket holders – a level of expectation that is familiar at Schalke, but rarely so concentrated as on an evening when promotion can finally be secured.

This was also linked to the security debate: In advance, there was discussion about a possible pitch invasion. Four years ago, Schalke fans stormed the pitch after the promotion match against FC St. Pauli (3:2); at that time, some fans were injured while crossing the moat between the field and the stands. Accordingly, besides the sporting aspect, the question also arose as to how such an evening could end in an orderly fashion.

Numerous former Schalke players also watched the evening from the stands, including Klaus Fischer and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. After the final whistle, the sporting core was clear: Schalke uses the match point, ends three years in the second division – and is promoted again with a narrow but deserved victory.