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Popp Kicks Off BVB’s Derby Week: “This Is Completely Crazy”
This woman is already fired up for her first local derby. As a self-proclaimed Borussia Dortmund fan, Alexandra Popp has so far only experienced the rivalry with FC Schalke 04 as a spectator watching her male colleagues in the Bundesliga.
At the thought of this coming Sunday, the BVB Women’s striker’s eyes immediately light up: “I’m really looking forward to the game, especially when I hear that 17,000 fans are coming. I love playing in front of such a big crowd. It’s incredibly fun,” Popp said on Monday during a packed press conference, officially kicking off derby week.
A record is in sight: 17,000 tickets sold
Over 17,000 tickets have already been sold for Sunday afternoon’s top Regionalliga match between BVB and Schalke 04. Only a few hundred tickets remain available in the online ticket shop for the prestigious showdown between the Black and Yellows and the Royal Blues.
In addition to the sporting stakes, it is particularly this impending attendance record for a Regionalliga match (previously 14,500 spectators) that has Dortmund captain Alexandra Popp buzzing days before kickoff.
The player, who has earned 145 caps for the national team, is well acquainted with such crowds from her professional career, which has spanned over 18 years. But the prospect of playing at Rote Erde—possibly in a sold-out stadium—even in the third-division Regionalliga has the striker thrilled: “We’re talking about the Regionalliga. That’s completely crazy—we’re going to have 17,000 people there. You couldn’t tell anyone that; no one would believe it.”
With twelve wins in twelve games this season, the BVB Women currently lead the Regionalliga by eleven points over FC Schalke 04. The Dortmund captain intends to lead her team onto the field with that same confidence. But Popp also knows: “At the end of the day, it’s a derby; it’s a very important game—and it’s also a top-tier matchup. That’s always something special.”
Popp Wants a “Completely Normal Training Week”
The Revierderby has long been on the team’s mind and a topic of conversation in the locker room, at least since last Sunday’s 6-1 away win at Fortuna Cologne. “But I don’t get the feeling right now that there’s any huge nervousness or anything like that.”
By the time of the final training session on Saturday, though, the tension will start to build within the team, “which is completely normal and perfectly fine. That’s just part of it to a certain extent.” For herself, however, the by far most experienced player on head coach Markus Högner’s BVB roster made it clear: “I’m a pretty laid-back person—I always have been.”
For the top scorer of the current Regionalliga season (17 goals in twelve games), it’s already clear what will matter on Sunday starting at 3 p.m. in order to win the 13th game if possible: “That we consistently play good soccer for 90 minutes. That we simply keep the pressure on our opponents.”
Popp emphasizes that not much will change in their routine leading up to the match: “Just because the headline says ‘Derby’ doesn’t mean we’re doing anything special. It’ll be a completely normal week of training.”
Popp “couldn’t care less” about her own goal tally
After a “truly outstanding start to the season,” the focus now is on presenting themselves as the confident league leaders with a solid performance against Schalke 04 in front of over 17,000 fans.
Dortmund’s star player clearly isn’t thinking about her personal goal tally: “To be honest, I couldn’t care less who scores the goals in the end.”
The BVB Women’s local derby against FC Schalke 04 will be broadcast live and free-to-air on Pluto TV on Sunday.
Mats-Yannick Roth