The contrasting fortunes of Dortmund and Schalke will be on full display in the 100th Revierderby on Saturday when Schalke takes on Borussia Dortmund in the fiercest derby in German football.
While Schalke is trying to avoid a direct return to the second division, Dortmund is aiming to win the title in this matchup. The matchup appears to be destined for Dortmund’s layup.
The visitors are second in the league based on goals against and have won eight straight league games since the beginning of 2023. This is the longest winning streak against Schalke since the 1960s for Dortmund.
Dortmund’s nine-point lead at the top
Bayern’s quick finishing was gradually eroding Dortmund’s nine-point lead at the top of the table.
After losing two players, including captain Marco Reus, to direct red cards in a five-minute period in the second half, Schalke traveled to Dortmund and prevailed 4-2 against a frazzled home team.
The defeat was crucial because Dortmund finished the season two points behind Bayern in second place. Due to modern football’s international nature, derbies tend to be more important to fans than players and coaches. However, Saturday’s matchup will be a rare exception.
Danny Latza, a local boy, will lead Schalke, and both Reus and manager Edin Terzic was raised in Dortmund.
Thomas Reis, manager of Schalke, said on Thursday that he was happy to “be in the thick of it for the first time” in his derby debut.
On Tuesday, Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel stated that Schalke’s “fight for survival” added spice to the encounter. Kobel comes into the match with an injury cloud.
One to watch: Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen) The young German midfielder will need to keep pulling the strings if Bayer Leverkusen is to sneak into the European rankings this season.
His absence during Leverkusen’s terrible start to the season, when they lost in the Champions League and were close to relegation, demonstrated his significance.
Even though he is only 19 years old, Wirtz is Leverkusen’s creative heart, scoring two goals and providing four assists in his last six games.
“His game intelligence makes us better,” Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso, who is well-versed in creativity, told Kicker on Wednesday.
Key statistics:
Augsburg beat Bayern 1-0 in the league in September, one of only two losses this season to the German champions across all competitions.
2: Hoffenheim has dropped out of the Champions League and is now in the relegation zone after collecting just two points in their last 13 league games.
8: Dortmund has won eight league games in a row, the most in the club’s history.
Friday’s games are at Cologne FC vs. Bochum (1930), Saturday’s games are at Bayern Munich vs. Augsburg, RB Leipzig vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Stuttgart, Hertha Berlin vs. Mainz, Schalke vs. Borussia Dortmund (1730), and Sunday’s games are at Freiburg vs. Hoffenheim, Werder Bremen vs. Bayer Leverkusen