On Saturday, it counts: Everybody for the derby win!

"We don't have one large problem, but lots of smaller ones", said Marcel Schmelzer after the match against Spurs. "We have been able to work on many of them already and remedy them. At the moment, it is simply the individual errors that are costing us." The reality is that a small improvement could be seen in the disciplined first half performance in the game on Wednesday. "We played well in the first half, were compact, and also played well tactically", explained Raphael Guerreiro. "If you make such mistakes in the second half against good teams like Tottenham, then you will lose the fixture."

"I believe the derby is the best thing that can happen to us"

All that remains to be achieved in the UEFA Champions League on the final matchday of the group stage in Madrid is to collect more points than Nicosia do in London, or at least, to maintain the clearly superior goal difference relative to the Cypriots, since Borussia Dortmund will continue to compete on the international stage in the Europa League after the winter break in that case. Two weeks remain though before the match in Madrid, a long time in the microcosmic world of football. For that reason, the BVB players must get themselves ready as quickly as possible to face their arch rivals on Saturday, for another important game in Leverkusen follows a week later.

A win against the Royal Blues would be their first win in the Bundesliga since the 2-1 victory over Augsburg at the end of September, and would guarantee their overtaking of their neighbours in the table. The balance of power in the Ruhr would at least be redressed for the meanwhile, a soothing unguent for the souls of BVB fans everywhere given Schalke overtook BVB in the table for the first time in two and a half years last weekend. "I believe the derby is the best thing that could happen to us in this situation", said Peter Bosz on Wednesday. "All the players, especially those who have been at this club for some time now, know how important the derby is."

All that matters now is Schalke

The manager and the players are aware of the significance of the match on Saturday, which has taken on extra importance because of the difficulties of the last few weeks. "The pressure going into the derby is of course great now, but if we win against Schalke, then the pain of the last few weeks will soon evaporate", said Gonzalo Castro. Marcel Schmelzer sees the derby as an opportunity: "In the last few years we have always gone into this fixture as favourites, but you never really saw that on the pitch, irrespective of how well the one or the other team was doing at any given time. That is what makes the derby special. During those 95 minutes, it is purely about who wants the win more. That is what we must show", suggested the BVB captain.

A win against Schalke could lay the foundation for a potential winning streak in the run up to the winter break. There follow four more Bundesliga matches after the Ruhr derby up until the 20 December, the aforementioned Champions League encounter with Real Madrid, and, a cherry on the end of year cake of sorts, a match as part of the eternal battle against Bayern Munich in the DFB cup. Only after all these fixtures have been played can BVB's record in the first half of the season be accurately gauged. However, not all of these fixtures are of import yet. All that matters right now is Schalke on Saturday at 15:30 CET. Everybody for the derby win.
Dennis-Julian Gottschlich

>>> To the match report: Aubameyang scores, but Tottenham take the three points 

>>> The reaction: "We have simply got to defend better as a team"