Schalke manager Felix Magath has already given up hope of making Europe this season and turned his focus to getting the team out of trouble.
The Royal Blues still have not won at home all season and yesterday's 1-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen leaves them second from the bottom of the table with just six points after 10 games.
They are already 12 points adrift of the top three with just under a third of the season played and Magath claimed European football next season is no longer a realistic aim.
"I cannot think about (qualifying for) the Champions League at the moment," he said.
"We have got to get out of the bottom three and only then can we see what comes next."
Schalke hit the woodwork twice in a game which they could have won.
"We lost this game due to one counter-attack," he told ZDF television.
"And then such a shot (as Klaas Jan Huntelaar's against the post) usually goes in, but with us it just bounces out.
"It was not a bad performance from us, we have got to recognise that."
Before the game, Magath had said that his side simply had to win and that there could be no more excuses for a defeat.
However, he said afterwards: "I don't need to get angry. That would not do me nor the team any good."
