FC Schalke 04 welcomes Borussia Dortmund for the Revierderby (Saturday, 18.30). This is what S04 coach Thomas Reis says about the game and the personnel.
It sounds curious, but it’s true: When FC Schalke 04 hosts Borussia Dortmund for the Revierderby on Saturday evening (18:30, RS-Liveticker), the only two teams still unbeaten in the second half of the season will meet.
BVB have won all six of their games and are top of the table, while Schalke have bounced back after their four nil draws and most recently two important victories in the relegation battle and go into the Revierduel with a tailwind.
“We’re in a good phase now, the tide has turned a bit,” coach Thomas Reis stressed at the pre-match press conference. It was a “huge opportunity to build on our momentum”, the coach continued. “But we haven’t achieved anything yet,” the coach said.
In terms of personnel, however, the Gelsenkirchen side will once again have to cope with a number of absentees. “Compared to last week, no player will return,” Reis explained. This means that the two left-backs Thomas Ouwejan and Jere Uronen are still out. As in the last two weeks, much points to Henning Matriciani as a substitute.
Also, wingers Soichiro Kozuki and Tim Skarke will be missing against BVB. Eder Balanta, on the other hand, has overcome his muscle hardening and the defensive midfielder is fit for action in the derby.
Dominick Drexler, Danny Latza and the long-term injured Sebastian Polter and Sepp van den Berg will definitely be absent. The latter celebrated his comeback to the U23 last week, but was injured again in training during the week. Reis spoke of a “minimal setback” for the centre-back on loan from Liverpool FC.
Incidentally, Reis himself is still unbeaten against BVB as a professional coach. He drew with his former club VfL Bochum last season and celebrated a spectacular victory in Dortmund in the second leg. Before his first Revierderby in the service of S04, the 49-year-old warns of an “incredibly strong team. They defend courageously, combine forward. We want to make sure that BVB don’t get close to their 100 per cent. For that we need mentality. “