The first Revierderby of the season ended in a 0:0 draw. It was a game of two halves, as Dortmund dominated the second half after Schalke, owning the home side completely in the first as Borussia Dortmund once again failed to register a win while Schalke would be pretty happy with their positive performance.
Lineups
Thomas Tuchel opted for a 4-1-4-1 formation. Roman Burki kept his spot in the team. Matthias Ginter was chosen ahead of Marc Bartra in defense. He started alongside Sokratis in central defense. Lukasz Piszczek and Felix Passlack started out as wingbacks for Dortmund.
Julian Weigl as the lone pivot, who was helped by Mario Gotze and Shinji Kagawa in a slightly advanced position with Dembele and Pulisic on the wings behind the lone forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
As for Schalke, coach Markus Weinzierl started with his usual 3-5-2 formation with Ralf Fahrmann in goal. Benedikt Howedes, Naldo and Matija Nastasic formed a three-man backline for Die Konigsblauen. Former Mainz player Johannes Geis sat in front of the defense, complemented by Leon Goretza and Nabil Bentaleb. While Max Meyer and Alessandro Schopf played out in wings behind the lone forward Franco Di Santo.
Dortmund, as usual, began with their possession based football and navigated throughout their backline. Schalke, on the other hand, formed a complex pressing system which was enough to dismantle Dortmund’s system.
The lone striker Franco Di Santo was deployed to press the ball carrying defender while Max Meyer, the secondary striker supported him with movements down the supporting center back. The fullbacks were gifted freedom but Schalke closed them down quickly the moment they looked dangerous. Borussia Dortmund left-back Felix Passlack seen a lot of the ball due to the fact that, Alessandro Schopf is a more attack-minded player and thus, he failed to keep the left flank on his grasp(defensively). While Schalke completely dominated the right flank thanks to Sead Kolasinac’s marauding runs up and down the field. The Bosnian defender was crucial behind Pulisic’s disappearance in the first half. Kolasinac attempted four tackles, won all of his three aerial duels and made two interceptions throughout the game.
Nabil Bentaleb and Leon Goretzka’s job in the middle was also interesting. The duo kept the flow from the Dortmund midfield rather quite due to their pressing. Kagawa, in particular, was given no space at all to work with. While Mario Gotze was forced to move into wider positions in order to create chances because the middle was way too congested for the 24-year-old. At the same time, they also kept tabs on Julian Weigl as well, as he was restricted to just 54 passes throughout the game.
