Why BVB Vs Schalke is one of the fiercest rivalries in world football

Borussia Dortmund team bus. [AFP via Getty Images]

The coronavirus pandemic led to a complete shutdown of the top five European football leagues in March 2020.

The German Bundesliga returned on Saturday as Borussia Dortmund took on Schalke (Revierderby) among other mouth-watering matches that football fans were missing because of the coronavirus pandemic. Dortmund thrashed traditional rivals Schalke 04 4-0.

Dortmund usually expect 82,000 spectators at Signal Iduna Park for a home derby, but the stadium was near-empty with only a handful of media and officials allowed.

BVB were looking to close the four-point gap behind leaders Bayern Munich, who visit Union Berlin today.

According to Bundesliga, the Revierderby is known as 'the mother of all derbies'. It is one of the fiercest rivalries in world football as two of the game’s most passionate sets of fans vie for local bragging rights in Germany’s industrial heartland.

Origin of the Revierderby

The cities of Dortmund and Gelsenkirchen are separated by less than 20 miles in the Ruhr region, for generations Germany's centre of coal and steel production.

You could say more unites them than divides them — though duck/run if you say it in Dortmund or Gelsenkirchen! — as they share a hugely passionate, football-mad, working-class fan base.

While religious, economic and political differences spice up other derbies, the Revierderby is split simply across one divide: Are you Black-and-Yellow or Royal Blue? There is no middle ground.

The derby is so intense that most passionate fans even refuse to utter the name of the other club.

Dortmund may have had the upper hand in recent years, but Schalke were the undisputed kings at the start, a 4-2 win in their first competitive meeting in 1924/25 setting the tone for 18 years of derby dominance.

[AFP via Getty Images]

The year that will never be forgotten

In a rare moment of unity, both sides of the Revierderby divide were celebrating in 1997 as Dortmund and Schalke brought home European glory.

It began on 21 May when Schalke beat Inter Milan on penalties at the San Siro to claim their first continental honour, and bring the UEFA Cup to Gelsenkirchen.

One week later, BVB also beat Italian opposition, Juventus, this time to win their first UEFA Champions League title, in Munich. Germany and Bayern Munich legend Franz Beckenbauer famously said afterwards, "the heart of German football beats in the Ruhr."

History made

Former Arsenal legendary goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was the hero for Schalke in Milan, saving Ivan Zambrano’s penalty in the 4-1 shootout victory, and he would go on to endear himself even further to the Royal Blue faithful just a few months later.

On 19 December, Schalke were trailing Dortmund 2-1 in the final minute of their Bundesliga match at the Signal Iduna Park. What happened next made league history.

The visitors got forward one final time and Marc Wilmots looked to cross, but the ball flew out of play. Much to the dismay of the 55,000 home fans, the referee signalled a corner to Schalke. Olaf Thon took it, Thomas Linke flicked it on and there, seemingly in the wrong penalty area, was goalkeeper Lehmann to nod home an equaliser. It was the 33,325th goal in Bundesliga history, but the first by a goalkeeper from open play.

He left the club for AC Milan at the end of that season before returning to the Bundesliga just six months later – with Dortmund, where he would win his sole Bundesliga title in 2002.

Dortmund currently have eight German league titles to their name – one more than Schalke – but for the majority of their history, they have trailed their Gelsenkirchen rivals. Only when Jürgen Klopp arrived and won back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012 did BVB finally overtake the Royal Blues.

Schalke’s last league title came in 1958, meaning they are yet to be crowned champions in the Bundesliga.