Bundesliga: Schalke 04 loses in Hoffenheim and fears for Robin Gosens and Loris Karius

At the start of the second half, Gosens collided with his goalkeeper during a rescue operation in the 51st minute. Gosens unfortunately hit Karius on the nose with his studs. Gosens himself injured his knee. He had to be led off the pitch with support from two teammates.

Karius appeared dazed and suffered lacerations to his face. Head coach Muslić later said about Karius' condition: "We hope it's not as bad as Robin's." Both football professionals are to be examined in Gelsenkirchen.

Gosens had only just returned to the team. Two weeks ago, Gosens and his teammate Soufiane El-Faouzi collided heads during the game in Cologne. El-Faouzi now ran in the Sinsheim stadium with a mask, Gosens with a black bandage.

Neither could prevent Schalke from falling behind early on. Fisnik Asllani scored 1-0 for Hoffenheim in the tenth minute after a mistake by Karius. Karius played the ball directly to Hoffenheim's striker Asllani, who just had to push in. Tim Lemperle increased the score to 2-0 (26th).

After the crash of Karius and Gosens, Schalke rebelled in the second half. Adil Aouchiche shot the ball onto the crossbar and junior Dina Ebimbe missed another chance. Hoffenheim played counterattacks too sloppily to decide the hectic game early on. Junior Adamu scored in the 81st minute to make it 1-2 after 500 goalless Schalke minutes. But it stayed that way.

Schalke's sports director Frank Baumann had given coach Muslić a long-term job guarantee this week: "To be clear: There will be no discussions about Miron in the coming weeks and months. We have conviction and trust that we will improve together," he said. Muslić himself said after the defeat against Hoffenheim: "I don't feel untouchable."