Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Völler will certainly concur. "There aren't many teams who could turn a game around and come back like that", the former Germany striker remarked of Schalke in the wake of Saturday's 2-2 draw between the two sides.

"2-2 was a defeat for us"

For the second time within the space of a week, the Royal Blues battled back from two goals down to salvage a point in front of their home crowd against one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. On matchday 11. Hamburger SV had been unable to capitalise on a 2-0 advantage in Gelsenkirchen; now it was Leverkusen's turn. In Völler's eyes, "2-2 was a defeat for us."

For Schalke, it was more like a victory. "I didn't hold out much hope of another fightback of that nature, but my players really showed incredible spirit", coach Felix Magath acknowledged. Defender Benedikt Höwedes added, "We were absolutely determined to get back into the game. We showed that in the second half."

Tip-top condition

Goals from Kevin Kuranyi (83.) and Vicente Sanchez (88.) were the eventual result. Up until the last twenty minutes or so however, there were few indications that the match was heading for such a dramatic finale. Kuranyi puts it down in great part to Magath's training regime: "The fact that we're in such good condition means we're always capable of stepping up a gear. We really can give it our all for the full 90 minutes."

But it is only in the final phase of the contest that Schalke have in fact been coming to the fore of late. Towards the end against 10-man Hamburg, they had well over 80 percent possession and against Bayer as well, the Royal Blues upped the pressure considerably in the closing stages. According to defensive all-rounder Heiko Westermann, "Our fighting spirit got us back into it."

Change of strategy required

Not that Magath, ever the realist, is getting carried away by that quality alone. "The games against Hamburg and Leverkusen showed that we can't compete with the best teams in the league at the playing level", he notes. Against Bayer, the visitors impressed in the first half above all with their fluid, creative, high-tempo style. Nullifying such opponents over the course of the whole season with hard work and willpower alone will, Magath warns, be "very, very difficult."

The players are themselves well aware that the late-show specials cannot continue indefinitely. "We need to learn to get right into the game from the start and occasionally go in front ourselves", Kuranyi says. Westermann echoes that sentiment, issuing a call to "go on the attack in a focused and aggressive way from the very first minute, not just near the end."

If Kuranyi has his way, Schalke will start adopting the new policy in their next outing - away to Bayern München, no less. The Royal Blue fans are up for it, at any rate. In the wake of the latest comeback against Leverkusen, a time-honoured chant was soon to be heard echoing around the terraces: "Get the lederhosen off of Bayern...!"


Dietmar Nolte / translation Angus Davison