SCHALKE OVERTAKE RIVALS DERBY

RANKED by leading football magazine FourFourTwo as one of the leading derbies in world football, the Revierderby could not have come at a worse time for Borussia Dortmund.

On the weekend, their Ruhr valley rivals Schalke 04 achieved something the club from Gelsenkirchen last managed 79 matches ago: Position themselves ahead of the Black and Yellows.

A 2-1 defeat in Stuttgart was the fifth time in a row that Dortmund have failed to pick up maximum points and four defeats in their last five matches has seen them surrender a comfortable lead at the top of the table to slip to fifth place – nine points behind runaway leaders Bayern Munich.

Schalke meanwhile, who won 2-0 against struggling Hamburg, find themselves directly behind Bayern exactly five years and a day after they last occupied second place.

This prompted Schalke’s chairman of the board, Clemens Toennis, to say that

in the long run, they are keen to see Dortmund behind them, both in terms of sporting success and economic success.

“That does not have to be this season – but if it does happen, it is obviously good as well.”

Dortmund coach Peter Bosz, who initially was praised for having taken his club to the top of the table, is finding himself under increasing pressure and can ill afford a defeat against their bitter rivals. It seems likely that he will bring back star striker Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, who was left out of the squad against Stuttgart for disciplinary reasons. German international Andre Schuerrle said that the time for talking was over.

“We need to find solutions on the pitch.

“Then we need to turn our talk into points,” said Schuerrle.

“We know we’ve got a tough schedule, but we’re just taking things game by game.

“We know that we need to beat Schalke. But we also know that we’re not in the best of situations.”