# 2004–05 FC Schalke 04 season

FC Schalke 04 had a surprise title tilt at Bundesliga, in spite of a poor start to the season and the resultant dismissal of manager Jupp Heynckes. With largely unproven Ralf Rangnick taking over, Schalke went about level with title rivals Bayern Munich after a 1–0 win thanks to a goal from Lincoln. From there on, Bayern dominated, leaving Schalke a full 14 points behind, albeit good enough for runners-up, qualifying the team for the Champions League.

## First-team squad

    Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | GER | Frank Rost |
| 2 | MF | DEN | Christian Poulsen |
| 3 | DF | GEO | Levan Kobiashvili |
| 4 | DF | GER | Thomas Kläsener |
| 5 | DF | BRA | Marcelo Bordon |
| 6 | MF | TUR | Hamit Altıntop |
| 7 | MF | GER | Michael Delura |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Aílton |
| 10 | MF | BRA | Lincoln |
| 11 | FW | DEN | Ebbe Sand |
| 12 | DF | NED | Marco van Hoogdalem |
| 13 | GK | GER | Christofer Heimeroth |
| 14 | FW | GER | Gerald Asamoah |
| 15 | DF | POL | Tomasz Wałdoch |
| 16 | DF | URU | Darío Rodríguez |
| 17 | MF | BEL | Sven Vermant |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | MF | NED | Niels Oude Kamphuis |
| 19 | MF | URU | Gustavo Varela |
| 20 | DF | SCG | Mladen Krstajić |
| 21 | MF | GER | Alexander Baumjohann |
| 23 | DF | GER | Fabian Lamotte |
| 24 | DF | GER | Christian Pander |
| 25 | FW | GER | Kai Hesse |
| 26 | FW | GER | Mike Hanke |
| 27 | DF | GER | Tim Hoogland |
| 29 | GK | GER | Volkan Ünlü |
| 30 | DF | GER | Christian Petereit |
| 31 | MF | GER | Sven Kmetsch |
| 32 | DF | GER | Niko Bungert |
| 33 | MF | GER | Mimoun Azaouagh |
| 34 | MF | GER | Ahmet Cebe |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 5 | MF | GER | Jörg Böhme (to Borussia Mönchengladbach) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 28 | DF | GER | Simon Talarek (to SG Wattenscheid 09) |

## Competitions
### Bundesliga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Bayern Munich (C) | 34 | 24 | 5 | 5 | 75 | 33 | +42 | 77 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Schalke 04 | 34 | 20 | 3 | 11 | 56 | 46 | +10 | 63 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Werder Bremen | 34 | 18 | 5 | 11 | 68 | 37 | +31 | 59 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Hertha BSC | 34 | 15 | 13 | 6 | 59 | 31 | +28 | 58 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | VfB Stuttgart | 34 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 54 | 40 | +14 | 58 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
* ↑ Since DFB Cup winners Bayern Munich and finalists Schalke 04 both qualified for the Champions League, the UEFA Cup place for the cup-winners was given to 6th placed Bayer Leverkusen.

### UEFA Cup
#### First round
#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | FEY | SCH | BSL | FER | HOM |
| 1 | Feyenoord | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 2–1 | — | — | 3–0 |
| 2 | Schalke 04 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage | — | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | — |
| 3 | Basel | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage | 1–0 | — | — | — | 1–2 |
| 4 | Ferencváros | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 4 | | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | — | — |
| 5 | Heart of Midlothian | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 3 | | — | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | — |