Much to Higo's expectation, the beginning of the game turned out to be a slow one. Neither team dared to go all out from the beginning, not wanting to drain their energy when the opponent's focus was still at its highest.
Still, it was SC Verl who took the first initiative of the game, controlling the tempo straight from the whistle being blown. They had Mehmet Kurt, a strong central midfielder from Turkey, and Jan Schoppner, a dynamic attacking midfielder in the pocket area, to help them maintain their possession.
Those two were experienced players who competed in the 3. Liga last year, so it was clear that they could suppress the trio of Schopf, Idrizi, and Fontein in Schalke's midfield area. Those three didn't even have any chance to develop the tempo, just falling back to their own defensive area immediately.
