The Revierderby, the mother of all derbies between local rivals Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04. The fans call the opposition as ‘them’ and ‘the enemy’, the Revierderby has become one of the most passionate rivalries in the whole of Germany.
Over its 92 year history there have been a grand total of 150 meetings between the two sides, with the first ever meeting ending in a 4-2 victory for Schalke back in 1925 and the latest being a 1-1 draw earlier in April this year. Schalke currently hold the bragging rights over BVB with their total wins sitting at 58. It is incredibly close though as Dortmund have won 51 times, whilst there have been 41 draws. The most embarrassing moment – more so for Dortmund – came in 1940 when Schalke battered BVB 10-0.
But how about we go back to a moment that Dortmund fans will enjoy.
May 14th, 2005, 61,500 fans at the Arena AufSchalke anticipate another thrilling encounter. For Schalke they want to add insult to injury as things haven’t been going to well for Dortmund. Schalke had become the more dominant of the two and with BVB’s financial issues off the pitch, it was looking like it could be Schalke’s day once more. Schalke hadn’t lost in 12 Revierderbies leading into this game and boasting a line up with Bordon, Lincoln, Ailton and Ebbe Sand, they definitely had threat about them.
Dortmund had a few decent players too you know! Dédé and Wörns at the back with Rosicky sitting behind a front two of Koller and Ewerthon.
Dortmund got off to the perfect start with a goal from Sebastian Kehl on the 17th minute. Celebrations were short lived as two minutes later Schalke were level through defender Tomasz Waldoch. Things were looking like they would stay level at the break until Lars Ricken done it again.
Remember his goal in the Champions League final against Juventus back in 1997, well he only went and done it again! The goal itself not as beautiful as his that won the prestigious club prize, but equally as memorable.
Dortmund finally could get their revenge, putting Schalke’s 12 match unbeaten run against Dortmund to an end. A run that stretched back to November 1998; a massive 7 year drought.
Since then, the Revierderby has been pretty evenly split, with 9 wins for Schalke, 8 wins for Dortmund and 8 draws. It safe to safe this historic derby has had some incredible moments for almost a century. Let’s hope that with the two sides building under new management the upcoming season brings two more top quality derbies. The first Revierderby will take place at the Signal Iduna Park on 25th November with the return fixture at the Veltins on 14th April 2018.