Guest in Dortmund: What is possible for Schalke in the Revierderby?
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Schalke 04 and BVB meet again in the district derby. But S04 (again) goes into the emotional duel as a clear underdog.
For the first time in a long time, there will be a district derby between Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund on Saturday afternoon. Despite all the unpredictability of this duel: S04 comes into play as the clear underdog. A comment.
It’s been a little over a year and a half since Schalke and Dortmund were able to compete in the Revierderby. It was the 4-0 home defeat in February of the relegation season that caused so much further disillusionment. Especially since the first leg was lost 3-0 from the Gelsenkirchen side.
The last win for royal blue is now almost three and a half years ago. It was the 4:2 that dealt a heavy blow to black and yellow in what had been a close race for the championship. Lucien Favre declared immediately after the final whistle that this race was now over. The last derby disillusionment for BVB is even further in the past.
Finally Revierderby again – an open duel?!
When the two rival clubs meet on Saturday afternoon, the atmosphere will be as special as ever. Both the home fans dressed in black and yellow and the away fans dressed in blue and white will create the right atmosphere.
And yet it’s not a district derby like so many of these duels before.
Again and again you can hear from both sides: In the derby, anything can happen. And that’s often the case. It was not uncommon for the team that actually went into the game with the significantly worse omens to win.
But this Saturday the cards are clearly distributed – in favor of Dortmund. A team that is a potential title contender, at least in the DFB-Pokal, welcomes a promoted team that will have to make every effort to stay in the league at all. In short: the game usually means a mandatory victory for the hosts.
Derby unpredictability or not: the basic quality of the two teams cannot be compared. Whether you want to read it from the market value peak of the players, where Jordan Larsson at eight million euros faces the estimated €80 million Jude Bellingham (and 16 other players who are above Larsson), or from the completely different expectations of what this season concerns.
Schalke also have to be honest: Anything other than a BVB victory would be surprising
While a draw from S04’s point of view would already be a great success, no matter how much you like to win a derby, from BVB’s perspective this result would mean two points lost.
Of course, it is and will always be a game where players can surpass themselves, where unpredictability is a factor, and where surprises have been a frequent occurrence. But Dortmund does not have to rely on this random aspect, while Schalke even have to hope for it.
It doesn’t hurt to go into this game with a little more realism than hope if you hold it with royal blue. It’s now against a club that is likely to return to the end of the season for the Champions League will qualify. There are not only numerous points and a few places in the table in between, but also a completely different scale.
The fact that the disappointment in a defeat would still be very great speaks for the emotionality of this duel. A duel that is always known for surprises, but that this season (again) is approached with two significantly different expectations.
Everything about S04 and BVB at 90min:
This article was originally published on 90min.com/de as Guest in Dortmund: What is possible for Schalke in the Revierderby? released.