It's over. On Saturday, Schalke 04 played their final Bundesliga match, meaning that for at least one season, they'll play outside the first division, something they haven't done since 1991. Germany's second-biggest club, with their 155,000 members, have spectacularly collapsed. The 2020-21 season was a disaster: five different coaches, 41 players fielded, three wins, the entire club leadership gone and fan unhappiness to the point that Schalke supporters chased and attacked the squad after relegation was confirmed in late April.
Schalke's collapse is unprecedented in German football, given that they were in the Champions League round of 16 just two seasons ago.