The Daily Bee: Ruhrpott Rivals

Good morning everyone and Happy matchday! While much of the headlines going into the match are focused on the title race against Bayern, I think it’s important to think about the opponent directly in front of us. In fact, VfL Bochum are a regional rival to Dortmund due to being in Germany’s Ruhrpott. Despite all the attention on Dortmund’s other rivals, Bayern and Schalke, the match versus Bochum still has some regional smack talk at stake. So, in the spirit of this pseudo-rivalry, here are some fun facts!

Facts About the Matchup

• Dortmund and Bochum have played 21 times. Dortmund won nine times, lost six, and drew six. The goal difference is 38-32 in favor of Dortmund.
• Of these 21 games, 15 have been in the Bundesliga. Dortmund have won seven times, lost three, and drew five.
• According to Transfermarkt, Dortmund are valued at almost €500,000,000 more than Bochum is.
• Bochum have won only one of their last nine versus Dortmund, twelve months ago when they beat Dortmund 4-3 at the Westfalenstadion.

Facts About the Ruhrpott

• Dortmund, Schalke, and Bochum are the Bundesliga’s three representatives from the Ruhrpott, the largest urban region in Germany.
• Dortmund is the largest city within the Ruhrpott with Bochum coming in fourth (Behind Essen and Duisburg) and Gelsenkirchen coming in fifth.
• The whole region is home to 5.1 million people.
• The Ruhrpott is polycentric, meaning it has many smaller centers that coexist within the same area as opposed to a monocentric area like London which sees one city absorb smaller ones.
• During the Middle Ages, the area was a heavily populated trading epicenter but was leveled during the 30 Years' War. During industrialization, the population skyrocketed and led it to be the most heavily populated region in Germany.

Didn’t think you were going to learn something today, did you? Welp, now when you’re watching the game with friends or family you can start spewing out fun facts. I’m sure they’ll be in awe of your genius.

The Links

• In an interview with Sky Sprot, lkay Gundogan stated how happy he was to see Marco Reus renew his contract.
• Former Dortmund player Alexander Isak scored a fantastic goal against Everton as the Toffees were beaten 4-1 by Newcastle. Check it out here:

The Daily Buzz

Who is one player you wish Dortmund kept for longer? My answer is Sergio Gomez. Soon, it’ll be Mahmoud Dahoud.

More importantly, what’s your go-to fun fact?