"We have to keep it up now!"

"We're up there with the leaders, we're within striking distance and we have to keep it up now," said Sebastian Kehl, adding: "We need to keep picking up points. In the Champions League, we put ourselves under pressure. Yesterday, in the derby, we fought hard and created chances. We deal with things critically, but sometimes you are allowed to be pleased with yourselves." Especially when everyone in the team makes a good impression and in the end they earn a clear and deserved victory against a well-organised and hard-running opponent.

Schalke put in a lot of effort in the first half – they ran almost 60 kilometres in total – but could not keep it up over the full 90 minutes (total distance covered: 113 km). "They ran hard and were very aggressive, and played a lot of one-on-ones all over the pitch," said Mats Hummels. Michael Zorc praised the performance: "The team worked well, both defensively and offensively. We hardly allowed them any chances, and the victory was never in danger."

Manuel Akanji opened the floodgates with a tap-in. Akanji in particular was a welcome sight to see on the scoresheet, as Dortmund's first Covid-19 patient in the first team squad had only returned to the training ground on Wednesday. "He was not in training for almost two weeks," Favre said of his compatriot, who had tested positive for the coronavirus while with the Swiss national team on 7 October. "After five or six days, he could start training at home: a little bit of bike work, a little bit on the treadmill," said Favre: "He was back training with us again from Wednesday onwards. We are very glad to have him back."

Akanji too was relieved that everything went well. He told Sky: "Of course, it was a difficult time. Unfortunately, I had to stay at home and respect the rules. Fortunately, I felt very well. I was not restricted at home and was able to get back to training quickly. Fortunately, I was one hundred percent fit today and was able to help the team."

Instead, Emre Can missed the derby. "That can happen. There will be more cases. We cannot change that and we have to accept it," said Favre. Borussia Dortmund are hoping Can also gets through the illness without symptoms as far as possible and recovers soon.

The loss of Can was nominally compensated by Akanji's return, and the strain was again spread around the squad – Favre has made five changes to his starting eleven before each of the last two matches. The well-balanced squad allows this. "The quality and mentality of the team are good," knows Kehl. The head of the licensed player division is calling on his players before the upcoming matches against Zenit St. Petersburg, Bielefeld and Club Brugge, as Dortmund face a game every three days: "We have to stay hungry and prove it time and time again." That is because: "Ultimately, we will be measured by our successes. But we can deal with that too."
Boris Rupert