Revierderby Reactions: Lucien Favre Comments on Burki-Hitz Drama

In the 97th running of the Revierderby, Borussia Dortmund swept Schalke aside en route to an easy 3-0 victory. It was a full-team effort and there wasn’t a single player that put in a poor performance. It’s strange, then, that Lucien Favre’s post-match interview was a little contentious. He was asked about the recent drama regarding BVB’s goalkeeping situation.

Ever since Roman Bürki recovered from his respiratory infection, Favre had seemed to give the starting GK role to Marwin Hitz. Hitz played fairly poorly against Lazio, so Bürki was in net yesterday. It’s impossible to say whether or not this was the correct decision because Bürki didn’t have to make a single save.

It’s strange that after a match in which Borussia Dortmund faced zero shots on target, the biggest controversy would be about Lucien Favre’s goalkeeper selection. According to BILD, when asked about BVB’s goalkeeper situation, Favre lashed out:

(In French): That’s enough! (In German): Bürki was injured and then he was sick. Today he played. But we’ll see. Everyone has competition. They have some, and I do too.

Favre is clearly frustrated with this type of question. In my opinion, his answer reveals that Favre may have simply been using Hitz to try to motivate Bürki to fight harder for his spot in the starting lineup. It’s also interesting that he remarks that he himself has competition, indicating that he is aware that he is under pressure to succeed this season.

Michael Zorc also commented on BVB’s goalkeeper situation, but he was much less agitated by it:

For me the matter is clear. Roman was the no. 1 for the past few years. In my view, there is little reason to change that. But in the end, the coach always picks the lineup.

Zorc also spoke positively about the team as a whole:

That was a good reaction from the team after the game on Tuesday. Good work on the defensive and offensive ends.

Borussia Dortmund have no time to rest on their laurels, with a late-night match against Zenit St. Petersburg in the Champions League coming on Wednesday. It’ll be interesting to see who starts in goal. My guess is that Bürki will start, but as Zorc says, the decision will ultimately be up to Favre.