After losing the championship in the 2006/2007 derby, FC Schalke 04 once again faced Borussia Dortmund. S04 made the most of the opportunity and defeated BVB 4:1.
The 2006/2007 season could have ended with the German championship for FC Schalke 04. But Schalke’s regional rivals Borussia Dortmund, of all teams, shattered the royal blue team’s dreams with a 2:0 win against the Gelsenkirchen side.
This event took place just four months ago on August 18, 2007. The day on which the Pott clubs next met on matchday 2 of the 2007/2008 season. The chance for revenge for the blue and whites in the home Veltins-Arena.
Schalke also had the better starting position. While the Royal Blues were able to keep pace with reigning champions VfB Stuttgart on the first matchday with a 2-2 draw, BVB suffered a 3-1 defeat against MSV Duisburg.
The Schalke squad at the time included a number of players who were destined for great careers. Manuel Neuer and Mesut Özil had already emerged as home-grown players from Schalke’s youth department in the 2006/2007 season and continued to get a taste of professional football that season.
Another notable player who would one day have a market value of 70 million euros was Ivan Rakitic, who came from Basel for five million euros at the age of just 19. The Schalke coach at the time was Mirko Slomka.
The Dortmund squad included future world champion Roman Weidenfeller in goal, Dédé at left-back and right-back Jakub Blaszczykowski, with Thomas Doll on the touchline.
S04 take an early lead in the derby
S04 did well from the start, were alert and had more of the play. The miners took the lead in the eleventh minute through Brazilian Marcelo Bordon, before the home side extended their lead in the 31st minute with a direct free-kick goal from Christian Pander.
Borussia went into the dressing room with a clear two-goal deficit. But the game continued to go Schalke’s way after the break. In the 59th minute, fan favorite Gerald Asamoah increased the lead to 3:0.
In a passive phase for the hosts, the visitors reduced the deficit to 1:3 through Nelson Valdez, but Schalke were undeterred and increased their lead to 4:1. A successful revenge for the runners-up
Schalker also won the second leg at Signal Iduna Park, this time 3:2. FC Schalke finished the 2007/2008 season in third place behind FC Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen. Dortmund were only able to finish 13th in the table.
Rakitic moved on from Spain to Saudi Arabia
And what happened next for the 19-year-old Croatian at Schalke? Rakitic left the Bundesliga in 2011 to join Sevilla FC in Spain. From there, he moved on to Barcelona, where he had a market value of 70 million euros at one point. The Croatian returned to Sevilla in 2020. Since 2024, he has played for the Saudi Arabian club Al-Shabab.