Match Preview: Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 Clash In The Legenedary Revierderby!

To me The Revierderby is the best football match any fan could ask for. If you’ve had media training as a player or coach, you might say, that this is just another game. I could not disagree more.

For many fans of Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04, The Revierderby is defining. Not only in terms of the season, but also in terms of the identity of the cities, communities and the people within those. It’s within these rivalries that we truly get to understand what football means to people, and let me tell you, for the people in Dortmund and Gelsenkirchen, it means close to everything.

When the Black-and-Yellows host the Royal Blues for the 99th Revierderby tomorrow, our players will be representing the city, history and people of Dortmund. So let’s sharpen our knives and kill some Smurfs!

Our Opponents

When I wrote one of our countdown articles before the season began, I predicted that Schalke would be one of the candidates involved in the relegation battle. Now that we’re six games into the season, I can conclude that they’re not doing half bad! The Smurfs have collected six points so far. Not good, but luckily for them, there are a lot of teams, that are currently worse. They currently sit in 12th place with eight goals to their name - that’s the most goals for a team that’s placed 12th or lower.

The Royal Blues have drawn with Wolfsburg and Gladbach this season, and although Wolfsburg are having a rough season, they are still a pretty decent team on paper. They also collected their first victory last week against the other Ruhr club - Bochum, who are currently bottom of the table with 0 points.

Predicted Lineup:

I actually see quite of lot of possibilities - especially because the game in Manchester went well, apart from the late collapse. I think Hummels will be rested after an absolute warrior display on Wednesday, and I don’t quite think Adeyemi or Malen will be fit for a starting spot. Modeste should honestly be rested, and I hope he will. Moukoko hasn’t done anything that proves he’s a worse option at this point, so Terzic might as well hand him a start.

A joker might be Emre Can, as he had a very good game in Manchester as well. He could be in for a starting spot, but I don’t think Terzic will mimic the defensive setup he had prepared against The Citizens.

Player to Watch: Marius Bülter

Photo by Carmen Jaspersen/picture alliance via Getty Images

I highlighted Simon Terodde in my last Schalke 04 article, and while he’s obviously still a threat, another player currently leads the goalscoring chart in Gelsenkirchen. Marius Bülter (left winger) transferred from Union Berlin after the 2020/21 season, and he racked up 10 goals and 10 assists last term for the Royal Blues. This year he has scored 3 goals in 6 appearances, and he will surely look to continue a similar trend as the season moves on.

Prediction:

We were f*cking great against Manchester City. I’ve rarely felt that good after a loss, and the team spirit seems to still be intact despite a rather unfortunate ending to the match.

If I have to be totally truthful, I think we’ll run over Erwin the Miner and his troops. There’s no denying that we’re a lot better than The Smurfs on paper, and hopefully our players won’t give them an inch. I predict that Marco Reus will once again put us up 1-0, before we eventually win the match 4-0.

Good luck Smurfs, you’ll need it.