This Wednesday, FC Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund will face off in the U19 Bundesliga West. S04 coach Norbert Elgert is looking forward to the game.

This Wednesday evening (6:30 p.m.), the U19 Bundesliga West will see the Revier derby between FC Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund. While the Black & Yellows are at the top of the table, the Royal Blues are in second place. S04 coach Norbert Elgert is hoping that some of the players who have been injured so far will be able to return to the pitch.

Schalke have won three league games in a row. On Sunday, they defeated bottom-of-the-table SC Verl 3-0. “We will recover well and I’m sure Dortmund will do the same. We don’t have much time to analyze the game and we hope that one or two players will be able to join us again,” said Elgert ahead of the derby.

Zaid Amousso-Tchibara managed a brief appearance against Verl. Nevertheless, further Schalke players are questionable for the game against Dortmund. “Tchibara was injured and his brief appearance against Verl actually went quite well. We are sorely lacking Mika Khadr in central defense and we still don’t know whether he will be able to play against Dortmund. Philip Buczkowski and Berkay Karaca are also injured and definitely won’t be able to play,” Elgert revealed.

Sepp Herberger used to say that you have to give 100 percent in every game and that will be our task in this English week too.

Norbert Elgert

Nevertheless, the coach is looking forward to a good game due to the “healthy rivalry” between the two teams. The last meeting between the two sides in the Westfalenpokal in March last year ended in a 3-0 win for S04. Although it is a small derby, Elgert remained pragmatic about the upcoming game.

“For me, every game is an important game,” explained the Schalke coach. ”Sepp Herberger used to say that you have to approach every game 100 percent and that will be our task in this midweek as well.”

After the U19 team of Borussia Dortmund were knocked out of the Youth League play-offs by MSK Zilina, the team took the opportunity to blow off some steam in the league with a 7-1 win against Wuppertaler SV and a 4-1 victory against Fortuna Cologne. With 51 goals scored, the team of coach Mike Tullberg is by far the most prolific in the league. In addition, BVB has the most secure defense with only nine goals conceded.

“Of course, BVB has completely different possibilities than we do, but I don’t want to criticize them. They are doing a good job,” said Elgert. For more information on Schalke’s victory, click here.