# 2020–21 FC Schalke 04 season

The 2020–21 FC Schalke 04 season was the 117th season in the football club's history and 30th consecutive and 53rd overall season in the top flight of German football, the Bundesliga, having been promoted from the 2. Bundesliga in 1991. In addition to the domestic league, Schalke 04 also participated in this season's edition of the domestic cup, the DFB-Pokal. This was the 20th season for Schalke in the Veltins-Arena, located in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The season covered the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.
Schalke suffered a disastrous start to the season, becoming only the fifth Bundesliga team to go winless in their first 14 fixtures. They also became the first Bundesliga team with 5 managers in a season. Schalke's relegation was confirmed on the 20th of April, following a 1–0 defeat at Arminia Bielefeld.

## Players

Note: Players' appearances and goals only in their Schalke career.
    As of end of 2020–21 season.
| No. | Name | Nat. | Pos. | Age | Contract | Contract | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | Total | Total |
| No. | Name | Nat. | Pos. | Age | began | ends | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||
| 1 | Ralf Fährmann | | GK | 32 | Jul 2011 | Jun 2023 | 200 | 0 | 259 | 0 |
| 23 | Frederik Rønnow | | GK | 28 | Sep 2020 | Jun 2021 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 34 | Michael Langer | | GK | 36 | Aug 2017 | Jun 2022 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Defenders |||||||||||
| 2 | Kilian Ludewig | | DF | 21 | Oct 2020 | Jun 2021 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 3 | Hamza Mendyl | | DF | 23 | Aug 2018 | Jun 2023 | 12 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| 5 | Matija Nastasić | | DF | 28 | Jan 2015 | Jun 2022 | 122 | 1 | 157 | 2 |
| 13 | William | | DF | 26 | Jan 2021 | Jun 2021 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 17 | Benjamin Stambouli | | DF | 30 | Aug 2016 | Jun 2021 | 105 | 0 | 133 | 0 |
| 20 | Sead Kolašinac (captain) | | DF | 28 | Jan 2021 | Jun 2021 | 111 | 5 | 141 | 5 |
| 24 | Bastian Oczipka | | DF | 32 | Jul 2017 | Jun 2021 | 111 | 1 | 126 | 1 |
| 26 | Salif Sané | | DF | 30 | Jul 2018 | Jun 2022 | 59 | 4 | 71 | 6 |
| 30 | Shkodran Mustafi | | DF | 29 | Feb 2021 | Jun 2021 | 13 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
| 31 | Timo Becker | | DF | 24 | Jul 2020 | Jun 2023 | 30 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| 33 | Malick Thiaw | | DF | 19 | Jul 2020 | Jun 2024 | 23 | 1 | 26 | 1 |
| Midfielders |||||||||||
| 6 | Omar Mascarell | | MF | 28 | Jul 2018 | Jun 2022 | 61 | 1 | 71 | 1 |
| 8 | Suat Serdar | | MF | 24 | Jul 2018 | Jun 2022 | 71 | 10 | 83 | 11 |
| 10 | Nabil Bentaleb | | MF | 26 | Aug 2016 | Jun 2021 | 82 | 12 | 107 | 19 |
| 16 | Nassim Boujellab | | MF | 22 | Apr 2019 | Jun 2022 | 30 | 1 | 34 | 1 |
| 25 | Amine Harit | | MF | 24 | Jul 2017 | Jun 2024 | 102 | 12 | 119 | 13 |
| 28 | Alessandro Schöpf | | MF | 27 | Jan 2016 | Jun 2021 | 112 | 10 | 143 | 16 |
| 37 | Levent Mercan | | MF | 20 | Aug 2019 | Jun 2023 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 40 | Can Bozdoğan | | MF | 20 | Jul 2020 | Jun 2024 | 17 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| 42 | Kerim Çalhanoğlu | | MF | 18 | Sep 2020 | Jun 2024 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Forwards |||||||||||
| 7 | Mark Uth | | FW | 29 | Jul 2018 | Jun 2022 | 48 | 5 | 59 | 7 |
| 9 | Benito Raman | | FW | 26 | Jul 2019 | Jun 2024 | 50 | 6 | 55 | 12 |
| 18 | Gonçalo Paciência | | FW | 26 | Sep 2020 | Jun 2021 | 15 | 1 | 16 | 1 |
| 21 | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | | FW | 37 | Jan 2021 | Jun 2021 | 184 | 84 | 249 | 128 |
| 22 | Steven Skrzybski | | FW | 28 | Jul 2018 | Jun 2021 | 25 | 3 | 32 | 4 |
| 43 | Matthew Hoppe | | FW | 20 | Feb 2021 | Jun 2023 | 22 | 6 | 24 | 6 |
* 1 2 The contract of the player originally ended in June 2023, but is not valid for the 2. Bundesliga and therefore ends in June 2021.

## Transfers
### In

| Pos | Player | From | Type | Window | Ends | Fee in € | Ref. |
| FW | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | Ajax | Transfer | Winter | 2021 | Free | |
| FW | Shkodran Mustafi | Arsenal | Transfer | Winter | 2021 | Free | |
| DF | Sead Kolašinac | Arsenal | Loan | Winter | 2021 | Free | |
| DF | William | VfL Wolfsburg | Loan | Winter | 2021 | 250,000 | |
| FW | Matthew Hoppe | Schalke 04 II | Promoted | Winter | 2023 | — | |
| FW | Vedad Ibišević | Hertha BSC | End of contract | Summer | 2021 | — | |
| FW | Gonçalo Paciência | Eintracht Frankfurt | Loan | Summer | 2021 | 1,500,000 | |
| DF | Kilian Ludewig | Red Bull Salzburg | Loan | Summer | 2021 | Free | |
| GK | Frederik Rønnow | Eintracht Frankfurt | Loan | Summer | 2021 | Free | |
| DF | Timo Becker | Schalke 04 II | Promoted | Summer | 2021 | — | |
| MF | Can Bozdoğan | Schalke 04 U19 | Promoted | Summer | 2022 | — | — |
| MF | Kerim Çalhanoğlu | Schalke 04 U19 | Promoted | Summer | 2024 | — | |
| MF | Nick Taitague | Schalke 04 II | Promoted | Summer | 2021 | — | — |
| DF | Malick Thiaw | Schalke 04 U19 | Promoted | Summer | 2024 | — | |
| MF | Nabil Bentaleb | Newcastle United | Loan return | Summer | 2021 | — | — |
| DF | Jonas Carls | Viktoria Köln | Loan return | Summer | 2022 | — | — |
| GK | Ralf Fährmann | Brann | Loan return | Summer | 2022 | — | — |
| DF | Pablo Insua | Huesca | Loan return | Summer | 2021 | — | — |
| DF | Hamza Mendyl | Dijon | Loan return | Summer | 2023 | — | — |
| MF | Sebastian Rudy | 1899 Hoffenheim | Loan return | Summer | 2022 | — | — |
| FW | Steven Skrzybski | Fortuna Düsseldorf | Loan return | Summer | 2021 | — | — |
| FW | Bernard Tekpetey | Fortuna Düsseldorf | Loan return (premature) | Summer | 2023 | — | — |
| FW | Cedric Teuchert | Hannover 96 | Loan return | Summer | 2021 | — | — |
| FW | Mark Uth | 1. FC Köln | Loan return | Summer | 2022 | — | — |
* ↑ Loan fee with option to buy for €8.5M

### Out

| Pos | Player | To | Type | Window | Fee in € | Ref. |
| DF | Ozan Kabak | Liverpool | Loan | Winter | 1,500,000 | |
| FW | Ahmed Kutucu | Heracles Almelo | Loan | Winter | Free | |
| FW | Rabbi Matondo | Stoke City | Loan | Winter | Free | |
| FW | Vedad Ibišević | Free agent | Contract terminated | Winter | — | |
| MF | Nick Taitague | Retired | Contract terminated | Winter | — | |
| DF | Pablo Insua | Huesca | Transfer | Summer | 250,000 | |
| FW | Guido Burgstaller | FC St. Pauli | Transfer | Summer | Free | |
| FW | Cedric Teuchert | Union Berlin | Transfer | Summer | Free | |
| MF | Daniel Caligiuri | FC Augsburg | End of contract | Summer | — | |
| GK | Alexander Nübel | Bayern Munich | End of contract | Summer | — | |
| MF | Weston McKennie | Juventus | Loan | Summer | 4,500,000 | |
| FW | Bernard Tekpetey | Ludogorets Razgrad | Loan | Summer | 400,000 | |
| DF | Jonas Carls | Vitória Guimarães | Loan | Summer | 90,000 | |
| MF | Sebastian Rudy | 1899 Hoffenheim | Loan | Summer | Free | |
| GK | Markus Schubert | Eintracht Frankfurt | Loan | Summer | Free | |
| FW | Michael Gregoritsch | FC Augsburg | End of loan | Summer | — | — |
| DF | Jonjoe Kenny | Everton | End of loan | Summer | — | — |
| DF | Juan Miranda | Barcelona | End of loan (premature) | Summer | — | |
| DF | Jean-Clair Todibo | Barcelona | End of loan | Summer | — | — |
* ↑ Loan fee with option to buy for €21.0M+€10.0M variables
* ↑ Loan fee with option to buy for €18.5M+€6.5M variables

## Club
### Kit

Supplier: Umbro / Sponsor: Gazprom
| Home | Home alt. | Away | Away alt. | Third |

## Friendly matches

Win  Draw  Loss

## Competitions

Win  Draw  Loss

### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Bundesliga | 18 September 2020 | 22 May 2021 | Matchday 1 | 18th | 34 | 3 | 7 | 24 | 25 | 86 | −61 | 008.82 |
| DFB-Pokal | 3 November 2020 | 3 February 2021 | First round | Round of 16 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 066.67 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 37 | 5 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 89 | −57 | 013.51 |
Last updated: 22 May 2021 Source: Soccerway

### Bundesliga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 14 | Hertha BSC | 34 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 41 | 52 | −11 | 35 | |
| 15 | Arminia Bielefeld | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 26 | 52 | −26 | 35 | |
| 16 | 1. FC Köln (O) | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 34 | 60 | −26 | 33 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 17 | Werder Bremen (R) | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 36 | 57 | −21 | 31 | Relegation to 2. Bundesliga |
| 18 | Schalke 04 (R) | 34 | 3 | 7 | 24 | 25 | 86 | −61 | 16 | Relegation to 2. Bundesliga |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 22 May 2021. Source: Bundesliga

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | L | L | D | L | D | D | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | W | L | L | L | D | L | D | L | L | D | L | L | L | W | L | L | L | L | W | L |
| Position | 18 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |

#### Matches

The Bundesliga schedule was announced on 7 August 2020.

### DFB-Pokal
## Statistics

    As of end of 2020–21 season.

### Squad statistics

| No. | Player | Nat. | Pos. | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | DFB-Pokal | DFB-Pokal | DFB-Pokal | DFB-Pokal |
| No. | Player | Nat. | Pos. | Apps | St. | | | | Apps | St. | | | | Apps | St. | | | |
| 1 | Ralf Fährmann | | GK | 25 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Frederik Rønnow | | GK | 11 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Michael Langer | | GK | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Kilian Ludewig | | DF | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Hamza Mendyl | | DF | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Matija Nastasić | | DF | 18 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | William | | DF | 9 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | Henning Matriciani | | DF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Benjamin Stambouli | | DF | 27 | 25 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 22 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | Sead Kolašinac | | DF | 18 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Bastian Oczipka | | DF | 30 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Salif Sané | | DF | 15 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | Shkodran Mustafi | | DF | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Timo Becker | | DF | 22 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Malick Thiaw | | DF | 22 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 49 | Vasilios Pavlidis | | DF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Ozan Kabak | | DF | 14 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Omar Mascarell | | MF | 26 | 22 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 21 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Suat Serdar | | MF | 26 | 25 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 25 | 24 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Nabil Bentaleb | | MF | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | Nassim Boujellab | | MF | 13 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Amine Harit | | MF | 31 | 27 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 28 | 25 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Alessandro Schöpf | | MF | 21 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Blendi Idrizi | | MF | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Levent Mercan | | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Mehmet-Can Aydın | | MF | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Can Bozdoğan | | MF | 15 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Florian Flick | | MF | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Kerim Çalhanoğlu | | MF | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Jimmy Kaparos | | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Mikail Maden | | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Sebastian Rudy | | MF | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Mark Uth | | FW | 21 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 20 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Benito Raman | | FW | 27 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 25 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | Gonçalo Paciência | | FW | 16 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | | FW | 9 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Steven Skrzybski | | FW | 15 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Luca Schuler | | FW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Matthew Hoppe | | FW | 24 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Vedad Ibišević | | FW | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Rabbi Matondo | | FW | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Ahmed Kutucu | | FW | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 37 | 37 | 31 | 76 | 2 | 34 | 34 | 24 | 70 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 0 |
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 Player from Schalke II
* 1 2 Player from Schalke U19
* 1 2 3 4 Player transferred out during the season
* ↑ Player's contract dissolved during the season

### Goalscorers

| Rank | Pos. | Player | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | Total |
| 1 | FW | Matthew Hoppe | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | FW | Benito Raman | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 3 | FW | Mark Uth | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | MF | Amine Harit | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | FW | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | MF | Suat Serdar | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | MF | Alessandro Schöpf | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 7 | MF | Nassim Boujellab | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | MF | Florian Flick | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | MF | Blendi Idrizi | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | DF | Sead Kolašinac | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | MF | Omar Mascarell | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | DF | Shkodran Mustafi | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | FW | Gonçalo Paciência | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | DF | Malick Thiaw | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | FW | Vedad Ibišević | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | Total | Total | 25 | 7 | 32 |