Schalke continue to impress under Roberto Di Matteo as their 4-0 win at Stuttgart moved the Royal Blues up to joint-fourth in the Bundesliga.
Saturday's victory was the Royal Blue's third consecutive league win, with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting contributing eight of the 11 goals scored in that run.
Former Chelsea boss Di Matteo recorded his first away win since being appointed in October, and have climbed the ranking from eleventh to fourth in the rankings within a month.
One of the major reasons for Schalke's recent success has been the partnership of Huntelaar and Choupo-Moting: the former scored a hat trick against Mainz a week ago while the Cameroon international has been on fire, scoring five in the games against Wolfsburg and Stuttgart as well as setting up a further three goals.
"They both showed great understanding again," sporting executive Horst Heldt told reporters after the match. "Klaas-Jan worked hard to create openings and Eric Maxim scored the goals. Last week it was the other way round. That happens."
At the weekend, Choupo-Moting scored three goals and provided the assist for the fourth of the afternoon. "It's a special day for all of us, including myself of course. It was the first hat trick of my career. Goals are a great thing for any player," the former Mainz said.
"Perhaps Stuttgart didn't have their best day, but you don't win 4-0 with luck. We fully deserved our victory. We wanted to put a run together and now we've won three games on the trot. We can't afford to sit back now. We have to stay focused and carry on working hard," he added.
The 25-year-old added that the team implemented Di Matteo's tactics "well." The Italian has installed a new 3-5-2 formation in the past months, and it has proven to be key to the team's revival.
"We've invested a lot of time in getting to grips with the system," Jan Kirchhoff, who has become part of the three-man defence, said. ""The work is slowly beginning to pay off."
Speaking to kicker, Di Matteo also said that the recent turn in results is down to work on the training ground: "It's impossible to implement everything so fast. To achieve continuity is very difficult. You can only do it with good and hard training and by working together. And everyone here at Schalke is willing to do that. And that's why I remain optimistic."
You never win alone! #s04 pic.twitter.com/0BHfloawpZ
- FC Schalke 04 (@s04_en) December 7, 2014
On Wednesday, Schalke hope to avoid elimination from Champions League, with their 5-0 defeat at home to Chelsea a fortnight ago leaving the Royal Blues with only a small chance to progress.
They need all three points from their away trip to Maribor, who have held both Chelsea and Sporting Lisbon to a draw at home, and at the same time Schalke need to hope for Di Matteo's former club to beat the Portuguese outfit.
Should Schalke suffer a defeat at Maribor, they will exit Europe altogether and hand the Europa League spot to the Slovenian side.
"I don't waste any thoughts on it. Let's see where we are after the match; I can still comment on it then," Di Matteo added.