Schalke saw a big fall in their fortunes as they struggled to pull clear of the relegation zone for large portions of the campaign and needed a late upturn in form to finish just outside the reach of the bottom three.
Having finished the previous season as the runners-up, Schalke went into the campaign high on confidence but five defeats from first five games meant they quickly found themselves in the bottom three. Form did improve as the season went on but not enough to trigger a rise in the league standings.
The midfield and the defense were doing their bit, with Daniel Caligiuri being their best player as he ended the campaign as their top scorer with seven goals while also chipping in with three assists, while they had the best defensive record in the bottom have of the table.
It was up front though where Schalke were poor, struggling to score goals and ended the season with just 37 goals, their worst tally since the 1996-97 season. Domenico Tedesco was sacked in March and replaced by Huub Stevens on a temporary basis but he too struggled to trigger a turnaround and the club has since confirmed Stevens will be leaving at the end of the campaign and replaced by David Wagner who will need to fix the attack quickly if Schalke are to come anywhere close to challenging for a European qualification spot next season.
