FC Schalke 04 won 3:1 (1:0) against VfL Bochum. Immediately afterwards, the fans turned their focus to the derby against BVB.

After the all-important 3:1 (1:0) against VfL Bochum in the tram duel, the S04 fans immediately flipped the switch on Saturday evening. After all, the Revierderby against Borussia Dortmund is on the agenda next week.

Because you can twist and turn it however you want. The game against VfL was a derby purely because of the distance between the two clubs. However, the rivalry is not even remotely comparable, at least on the Schalke side. The supporters of VfL Bochum may see it somewhat differently. For them, as traditional underdogs, both FC Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund are unpopular. But the supporters of the Königsblauen don’t really care about the club from Castroper Straße. And that’s why it wasn’t the derby.

Fans tune up the team after the game

They also made that unmistakably clear to the team immediately after the final whistle. The fans immediately turned their focus to next Saturday’s match at BVB. Traditionally, the opponents were chanted at and the team was sworn in for a hot dance. Although there were no explicit calls for a derby victory, also because BVB is the firm favourite despite the 3-0 defeat in Leipzig, a “Let’s go Schalke, fight and win” went out as a call to the team to give everything again in Dortmund.

At least this time the supporters hope for a team that will not surrender to its fate without a fight like the ones in the last three derbies, which were lost with 0:4, 0:3 and 0:4. The last win at BVB was 4-2 on 27/04/2019, when the Königsblauen spoiled their rivals’ championship and secured relegation under Huub Stevens.

Meanwhile, FC Schalke 04 announced that all 850 available bus seats for the shuttle service from Gelsenkirchen to Dortmund are fully booked. There will not be an increase. In addition, special trains are planned to take the approximately 8,000 Schalke fans to the away game and back again. However, the departure times have not yet been fixed and will only be announced in the coming days.