The Revierderby is also a debutant ball
The 7th match day of the Bundesliga is all about the district derby. For the first time in over a year and a half, Borussia Dortmund and FC Schalke 04 are facing each other. There was not even a full house for almost three years because of the corona pandemic.
On October 26, 2019, the arch-rivals faced each other for the last time in front of full stands, the game ended goalless at the time. A look at the line-up sheet from the game at Schalke shows how much has happened since then. For the hosts, coach David Wagner sent Guido Burgstaller and Daniel Caligiuri onto the field, among others, while Lucien Favre relied on Achraf Hakimi and Mario Götze for the guests. In the Royal Blues, not a single player from that time is still in the squad, at BVB there are at least five out of 14.
Only two Schalke have Revierderby experience
It is also clear that the duel on Saturday afternoon will be a real derby debut ball. Schalke will most likely go into the game without any Revierderby experience. That’s no wonder, because there are hardly any professionals in the entire squad who have played at Schalke long enough to have met BVB with the Knappen. Only the substitute goalkeepers Ralf Fährmann and Michael Langer as well as homegrown Kerim Calhanoglu are ‘remaining’ from the time when Schalke was on the brink of relegation. Fährmann is quite steeled with twelve derby appearances, Langer replaced him in the last edition in February 2021 due to an injury in the first half. Calhanoglu only played against Dortmund at youth level.
Up to 16 debutants at S04
So on the S04 side, up to 16 Derby debutants will probably be used, depending on the number of changes made by coach Frank Kramer. Of course, some of the professionals have had heated local duels at other clubs. Marius Bülter, for example, with Union Berlin against Hertha BSC, or Simon Terodde with Hamburger SV against FC St. Pauli, whereby both games took place behind closed doors, as did Tom Krauß’ two games in 1.FC Nürnberg’s jersey against SpVgg Greuther Fuerth. After all, Schalke were able to gain experience last week in the ‘small’ derby against VfL Bochum. But it is obvious that the game in Dortmund is a completely different game.
From Adeyemi to Süle
Insofar as derby experience plays a role, BVB is actually already certain of a home win. Because with the black and yellow there will be significantly fewer debutants in the district derby. Of course, the summer newcomers that will be used are particularly affected. Karim Adeyemi, Alexander Meyer, Anthony Modeste, Salih Özcan, Nico Schlotterbeck and Niklas Süle could celebrate the premiere in the game, which remains the most important of the year for many fans. There could also be Donyell Malen, who only switched to the Bundesliga after Schalke was relegated. Gregor Kobel missed his first district derby injured. For a few more BVB professionals, it will also be the first derby in front of a packed ranks. Jude Bellingham, Youssoufa Moukoko and Gio Reyna, for example, have so far only experienced the game in front of a ghostly backdrop.
