Confirmed: Dortmund and Schalke scheduled to play May 16th

With yesterdays announcement that the Bundesliga is returning all that was left to settle was the date and time we’d play our rivals Schalke. Now those details have been ironed out as we are set to play them May 16th 9:30 AM EST.

The Revierderby was all set to play in March before the Bundesliga made the call to cancel all games until the COVID threat could be contained. Both teams have been training as much as the league has allowed but today they will both be returning to full training. The team will put them up in a local hotel for the foreseeable future to limit the spread to each players family. That seems like a rough compromise but it is necessary to keep the players family’s safe if play is to continue.

We should temper our expectations for the derby for two reasons. One, the players will not be as fit or cohesive due to limited training. And two the government could push back these dates if they see fit. I’d imagine any more infections like we saw in Koln would set this whole thing off course.

So BVB foootball is finally back on the calendar. Who’s excited?