# 2015–16 FC Schalke 04 season

The 2015–16 FC Schalke 04 season was the 112th season in the club's football history. In 2015–16 the club plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of German football. It is the club's 23rd consecutive season in the Bundesliga, having been promoted from the 2. Bundesliga in 1991.

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving from | Type | Transfer Window | Contract ends | Transfer fee | Sources |
| 21 | MF | Alessandro Schöpf | 21 | 1. FC Nürnberg | Transfer | Winter | 2019 | €5,000,000 | |
| 11 | MF | Younès Belhanda | 25 | Dynamo Kyiv | Loan | Winter | 2016 | Free | |
| 16 | FW | Fabian Reese | 18 | Schalke 04 U19 | Promoted | Winter | 2019 | — | |
| 20 | DF | Thilo Kehrer | 19 | Schalke 04 II | Promoted | Winter | 2019 | — | |
| | FW | Felix Schröter | 20 | 1. FC Heidenheim | End of Loan | Winter | 2018 | — | |
| 5 | MF | Johannes Geis | 21 | Mainz 05 | Transfer | Summer | 2019 | €12,000,000 | |
| 31 | DF | Matija Nastasić | 22 | Manchester City | Transfer | Summer | 2019 | €9,500,000 | |
| 9 | FW | Franco Di Santo | 26 | Werder Bremen | Transfer | Summer | 2019 | €6,000,000 | |
| 3 | DF | Júnior Caiçara | 26 | Ludogorets Razgrad | Transfer | Summer | 2018 | €4,500,000 | |
| 35 | GK | Alexander Nübel | 18 | SC Paderborn | Transfer | Summer | 2018 | €200,000 | |
| 27 | DF | Sascha Riether | 32 | SC Freiburg | Transfer | Summer | 2016 | Free | |
| 23 | MF | Pierre-Emile Højbjerg | 20 | Bayern Munich | Loan | Summer | 2016 | €1,000,000 | |
| 30 | GK | Michael Gspurning | 34 | Schalke 04 II | Promoted | Summer | 2016 | — | |
| — | FW | Felix Schröter | 19 | Schalke 04 II | Promoted | Summer | 2018 | — | |
| 36 | FW | Felix Platte | 19 | Schalke 04 U19 | Promoted | Summer | 2018 | — | |
| 19 | MF | Leroy Sané | 19 | Schalke 04 U19 | Promoted | Summer | 2017 | — | |
| 14 | DF | Kyriakos Papadopoulos | 23 | Bayer Leverkusen | End of Loan | Summer | 2016 | — | — |
| 28 | DF | Felipe Santana | 29 | Olympiacos | End of Loan | Summer | 2016 | — | — |

### Out

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving to | Type | Transfer Window | Transfer fee | Sources |
| 28 | DF | Felipe Santana | 29 | Kuban Krasnodar | Transfer | Winter | Free | |
| — | MF | Kevin-Prince Boateng | 28 | Milan | Transfer | Winter | Free | |
| 36 | FW | Felix Platte | 19 | Darmstadt 98 | Loan | Winter | Free | |
| 24 | DF | Kaan Ayhan | 21 | Eintracht Frankfurt | Loan | Winter | Free | |
| 10 | MF | Julian Draxler | 21 | VfL Wolfsburg | Transfer | Summer | €36,000,000 | |
| 17 | MF | Jefferson Farfán | 30 | Al-Jazira | Transfer | Summer | €7,000,000 | |
| 14 | DF | Kyriakos Papadopoulos | 23 | Bayer Leverkusen | Transfer | Summer | €6,500,000 | |
| 27 | MF | Tranquillo Barnetta | 30 | Philadelphia Union | Transfer | Summer | Free | |
| 23 | DF | Christian Fuchs | 29 | Leicester City | Transfer | Summer | Free | |
| 37 | DF | Pascal Itter | 20 | SV Grödig | Transfer | Summer | Free | |
| 20 | FW | Chinedu Obasi | 29 | Free agent | End of contract | Summer | Free | |
| — | FW | Felix Schröter | 19 | 1. FC Heidenheim | Loan | Summer | Free | |
| 40 | GK | Timon Wellenreuther | 19 | Mallorca | Loan | Summer | Free | |
| 28 | GK | Christian Wetklo | 35 | Schalke 04 II | Intern | Summer | — | |
| 3 | MF | Jan Kirchhoff | 24 | Bayern Munich | End of Loan | Summer | — | — |
| 31 | DF | Matija Nastasić | 22 | Manchester City | End of Loan | Summer | — | — |

## Kit

Supplier: Adidas / Sponsor: Gazprom
| Home | Home Alt. | Home 2016-17 | Away | Away Alt. | Away Alt. 2 | Third | Third Alt. |

### Kit information

Adidas continues its supply of the Schalke 04 kit, a relationship dating back to the 1975–76 season. Gazprom is the current sponsor, dating back to the middle of the 2006–07 season.
* Home: Previous season's blue home shirt, white shorts and blue socks confirmed as the current home kit with white three Adidas stripes due to Schalke 04's two-season home kit tradition.
* Home alternate: Same as home but including blue alternate shorts.
* Away: The away kit features a Marseille-inspired traditional home kit with light grey hoop, aqua blue three Adidas stripes, aqua blue shorts with white three Adidas stripes and white socks.
* Away alternate: Same as away kit but including white shorts with aqua blue three Adidas stripes and white socks.
* Away alternate 2: Same as away kit but including aqua blue shorts with white three Adidas stripes and aqua blue socks.
* Third: The third kit with white three Adidas stripes features a gradiented-hoop pattern, running from dark green to green, with black sleeve, all black back panel and all black shorts.
* Third alternate: Same as third kit but including green shorts with white three Adidas stripes and green socks.

### Kit usage

| Kit | Description | Usage |
| Home | Blue body with white shorts and blue socks. | Used in all home Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, UEFA Europa League, friendly matches (against Twente), away Bundesliga matches against Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Mainz 05, FC Ingolstadt and away friendly matches against Wolfsberger AC. |
| Home alt. | Blue body with blue shorts and blue socks. | Used in away matches against VfB Stuttgart, FC Augsburg, 1. FC Köln, VfL Wolfsburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach and friendly match against Lechia Gdańsk. |
| Away | White-light grey hoop with aqua shorts and white socks. | Used in away matches against Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt, UEFA Europa League away match against Shakhtar Donetsk and friendly matches against VfL Osnabrück, Udinese. |
| Away alt. I | White-light grey hoop body with white shorts and socks. | Used in away matches against Werder Bremen, Darmstadt 98, Hannover 96. |
| Away alt. II | White-light grey hoop with aqua shorts and aqua socks. | Used in UEFA Europa League away match against Sparta Prague. |
| Third | Dark green to green gradient hoop body with black sleeve, back panel, shorts and socks. | Used in away matches against Hamburger SV, 1899 Hoffenheim, friendly matches against Austria Klagenfurt, Porto, all-DFB Pokal opponent's white-blue, sky blue and yellow-blue home kit away matches and UEFA Europa League away matches against APOEL and Asteras Tripoli. |
| Third alt. | Dark green to green gradient hoop body with black sleeve and back panel, green shorts and socks. | Used in away match against Hertha BSC. |

### Kit record

| Type | Shirt | Shorts | Socks | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Type | Shirt | Shorts | Socks | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| Home | Blue | White | Blue | 23 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 39 | 34 | +5 |
| Home Alt. | Blue | Blue | Blue | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 11 | −4 |
| Away | White | Light blue | White | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | −6 |
| Away Alt. I | White | White | White | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 |
| Away Alt. II | White | Light blue | Light blue | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 |
| Third | Green | Black | Black | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | +13 |
| Third Alt. | Green | Green | Green | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 |
| Home (Season 2016/2017) | Blue | White | Blue | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| | | | | 44 | 20 | 10 | 14 | 71 | 57 | +14 |
| Updated: 14 May 2016 ||||||||||||

## Friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss

### Florida Cup 2016
## Competitions

Win  Draw  Loss

### Bundesliga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Bayer Leverkusen | 34 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 56 | 40 | +16 | 60 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 34 | 17 | 4 | 13 | 67 | 50 | +17 | 55 | Qualification for the Champions League play-off round |
| 5 | Schalke 04 | 34 | 15 | 7 | 12 | 51 | 49 | +2 | 52 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 6 | Mainz 05 | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 46 | 42 | +4 | 50 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 7 | Hertha BSC | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 42 | 42 | 0 | 50 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round |
* 1 2 Since the winners of the 2015–16 DFB-Pokal, Bayern Munich, qualified for the Champions League based on league position, the Europa League group stage spot was passed to the sixth-placed team, Mainz 05; and the Europa League third qualifying round spot was passed to the seventh-placed team, Hertha BSC.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 14 May 2016. 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 | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | D | L | W | W | W | W | L | W | L | D | L | L | D | W | L | W | L | W | W | L | D | D | W | W | L | W | L | D | L | L | W | D | W |
| Position | 3 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Europa League
#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SCH | SPP | AT | APO |
| 1 | Schalke 04 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 3 | +12 | 14 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Sparta Prague | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 12 | Advance to knockout phase | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Asteras Tripolis | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 12 | −8 | 4 | | 0–4 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | APOEL | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 3 | | 0–3 | 1–3 | 2–1 | — |

#### Knockout phase
##### Round of 32
## Team statistics

| 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 | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Bundesliga | 15 August 2015 | 14 May 2016 | Matchday 1 | 5th Place | 34 | 15 | 7 | 12 | 51 | 49 | +2 | 044.12 |
| DFB-Pokal | 8 August 2015 | 28 October 2015 | Round 1 | Round 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 050.00 |
| Europa League | 17 September 2015 | 25 February 2016 | Group stage | Round of 32 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 44 | 20 | 10 | 14 | 71 | 57 | +14 | 045.45 |
| Updated: 14 May 2016 |||||||||||||

## Squad statistics

Squad Season 2015–16 :
| No | NAT | Player | Age | Contract ends | All A | | | | | BL A | BL | | | | Cup A | Cup | | | | EL A | EL | | | |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | | Ralf Fährmann | 27 | 30 June 2019 | 43 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 34 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | | Michael Gspurning | 35 | 30 June 2016 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | | Fabian Giefer | 25 | 30 June 2018 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | | Alexander Nübel | 19 | 30 June 2018 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | | Marvin Friedrich | 20 | 30 June 2018 | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | | Júnior Caiçara | 27 | 30 June 2018 | 31 (1) | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 22 (1) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | | Benedikt Höwedes (C) | 28 | 30 June 2020 | 14 (5) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 (5) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | | Sead Kolašinac | 22 | 30 June 2017 | 24 (6) | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 18 (5) | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | | Dennis Aogo | 29 | 30 June 2017 | 25 (5) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20 (3) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | | Thilo Kehrer | 19 | 30 June 2019 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | | Atsuto Uchida | 28 | 30 June 2018 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | | Kaan Ayhan | 21 | 30 June 2017 | 2 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | | Sascha Riether | 33 | 30 June 2016 | 16 (4) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 (3) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | | Felipe Santana | 30 | 30 June 2016 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | | Matija Nastasić | 23 | 30 June 2019 | 2 (0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | | Joël Matip | 24 | 30 June 2016 | 41 (0) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 34 (0) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 (0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | | Johannes Geis | 22 | 30 June 2019 | 35 (2) | 4 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 27 (1) | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 (0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 (1) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | | Max Meyer | 20 | 30 June 2018 | 31 (10) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 27 (5) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | | Leon Goretzka | 21 | 30 June 2018 | 32 (2) | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 23 (2) | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 (0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | | Julian Draxler | 22 | 30 June 2018 | 4 (0) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 (0) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | | Younès Belhanda | 26 | 30 June 2016 | 10 (7) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 (7) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | | Marco Höger | 26 | 30 June 2016 | 3 (3) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 (2) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | | Sidney Sam | 28 | 30 June 2018 | 1 (5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | | Leroy Sané | 20 | 30 June 2019 | 29 (13) | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 23 (10) | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 (1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | | Alessandro Schöpf | 22 | 30 June 2019 | 6 (9) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 (8) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | | Pierre-Emile Højbjerg | 20 | 30 June 2016 | 17 (13) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 (10) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 (2) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | | Roman Neustädter | 28 | 30 June 2016 | 33 (5) | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 26 (4) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| — | | Kevin-Prince Boateng | 29 | 30 June 2016 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | | Franco Di Santo | 27 | 30 June 2019 | 20 (14) | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 (12) | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 (0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 (2) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | | Eric M. Choupo-Moting | 27 | 30 June 2017 | 27 (9) | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 21 (7) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 (1) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | | Fabian Reese | 18 | 30 June 2019 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | 32 | 30 June 2017 | 37 (3) | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 29 (2) | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 (0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 (1) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | | Felix Platte | 20 | 30 June 2018 | 0 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| — | | Felix Schröter | 20 | 30 June 2018 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | — | 67 | 77 | 0 | 1 | — | 47 | 64 | 0 | 1 | — | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 15 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Last updated: 29 May 2016 |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Players in white left the club during the season.