The Revierderby all-time XI: Borussia Dortmund and Schalke
Michael Zorc feeding passes for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to race onto, while Naldo and Olaf Thon keep things tight in front of Jens Lehmann and Jürgen Klopp celebrates on the touchline? For fans in Germany's Ruhr district, seeing such players in action was a real pleasure, albeit not on the same team.
bundesliga.com has brought Borussia Dortmund and Schalke fans' fantasies together, though, and united the local rivals' best players to produce a Revierderby all-time best XI.
Goalkeeper: Jens Lehmann (Dortmund/Schalke)
Fans of both Revier rivals will be united in welcoming Jens Lehmann into the side, although Royal Blues fans may have some of the fondest memories of the German custodian. Well, at least one particularly fond memory, from December 1997. Trailing to their bitter rivals 2-1 in the final seconds of the game, Lehmann raced forward for a corner, and the rest is the stuff of footballing fairy tales. Dortmund failed to clear their lines and there he was, Lehmann, to become the first goalkeeper to score a goal from open play in the Bundesliga, earning Schalke a draw. He also won the UEFA Cup with the Royal Blues before becoming one of a select group of players who successfully crossed the divide and went on to play for Dortmund, helping them to the 2001/02 Bundesliga title.
Watch: Five things on the Revierderby, including THAT Lehmann goal
Defender: Olaf Thon (Schalke)
One of Gelsenkirchen's greatest, Olaf Thon was born and raised in the Westphalian city and, aside from six years with Bayern Munich – which Schalke fans will forgive him for since he came home for a further eight seasons with them – his blood ran blue for a total of 13 years and 333 appearances. When an 18-year-old Thon scored a hat-trick in Schalke's semi-final clash with Bayern, it became clear that the Royal Blue fans had a new hero to worship. Part of the famous 'Eurofighters' who lifted the UEFA Cup in 1997, Thon also kept things steady at the back in Schalke's two DFB Cup triumphs in 2001 and 2002 before injury forced him to end his career, having also lifted the FIFA World Cup with Germany in 1990.
Defender: Naldo (Schalke)
Another player whose last-minute heroics contribute to his inclusion in this team. Naldo was a leader for the Royal Blues and it is no surprise that he put the finishing touch to the mother of all comebacks in November 2017. Schalke looked to be out for the count when Raphael Guerreiro's superb volley put Dortmund 4-0 up after 25 minutes, especially with youngsters Weston McKennie and Thilo Kehrer walking a tightrope after earning yellow cards in a predictably fierce opening period. Yet a truly astonishing second-half turnaround was to come, as the Royal Blues gradually chipped away at their hosts' lead, with Naldo's equaliser in the 94th minute sparking wild celebrations in front of the travelling fans. To put it into context, Schalke's achievement was only the second time in Bundesliga history that a team has clawed back a four-goal deficit to take at least a point from the game.
Watch: A 4-4 thriller for the history books
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Defender: Reinhold Wosab (Dortmund)
A defender with 60 Bundesliga goals? Step forward Reinhold Wosab, who actually spent the early part of his career playing on the right wing until the arrival of Reinhard Libuda from – you guessed it – Schalke saw him revert to the full-back position. By then, he had already played in a European Cup semi-final and helped Dortmund win the DFB Cup in 1965. A year later, he was part of the Dortmund side which defeated Liverpool in Glasgow to lift the UEFA European Cup Winners' Cup, earning him and his team-mates the Silver Laurel Leaf – the highest sports award in Germany.
Midfielder: Klaus Fichtel (Schalke)
No one has played in the Revierderby more times in the Bundesliga than Schalke’s Fichtel. The defensive midfielder took to the field 24 times in this fixture, a record he shares with former Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller, and won nine of them – the second most of any player. It’s little surprise for a man who played 523 times for Schalke over 19 years (interrupted by a four-year sojourn at Werder Bremen) and to this date remains the oldest player to feature in the Bundesliga at 43 years, six months and three days. At the time he was already the Royal Blues’ assistant coach. Perhaps even more remarkable for a defensive player, he only received eight cards in his entire 552-game Bundesliga career – a temperament often needed in the heat of a Revierderby.
Midfielder: Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund)
After becoming the Japanese second division's top scorer and helping Cerezo to promotion in 2009, Kagawa was signed by Dortmund in the summer of 2010. He announced himself in Germany in sensational style by bagging a brace at Schalke in his first Revierderby – only his fourth league appearance. His place in BVB folklore was thus guaranteed almost instantly. It was a fine start for a Japanese pioneer in Germany, and he celebrated back-to-back Bundesliga titles in Borussia's most glorious recent era, ending on a high note with a goal and assist in Dortmund's 5-2 DFB Cup triumph over Bayern before moving to Manchester United. His 21 goals in 49 games etched his name in Dortmund folklore and the fans went wild when he returned to Westphalia in 2014.
Midfielder: Michael Zorc (Dortmund)
A rare commodity in the modern game, Michael Zorc was a one-club man, spending all 17 years of his playing career with Borussia Dortmund and making 463 appearances in Black and Yellow. 'Susi', as Zorc was nicknamed due to his long locks, established his place at the heart of the Dortmund midfield during what were difficult times for the club: his two goals in the relegation play-off replay against Cologne helped BVB survive and bounce back in style, finishing fourth in the subsequent season with Zorc on target 14 times. After inheriting the captain's armband at the start of the 1988/89 season, Dortmund began a successful era which included DFB Cup success, a UEFA Cup final appearance and a maiden Bundesliga title in 1995, with Zorc – a midfielder, don't forget – top-scoring with 15. Now the club's sporting director, Zorc's success at Dortmund culminated with victory in the 1996/97 UEFA Champions League. With 23 Revierderby appearances (and seven goals), he is second only to Weidenfeller and Fichtel (24) on the all-time appearance list for this fixture, and his ten wins eclipse anybody else.
Midfielder: Ingo Anderbrügge (Dortmund/Schalke)
After making his Bundesliga debut for Borussia in 1984 at the tender age of 20, Anderbrügge established himself as a first-team regular over the next four seasons, making 76 appearances. Then, the highly regarded attacking midfielder with a kick to match the best – so much so, he later forged a second career in American Football with NFL-Europe team Rhein Fire – dropped the bombshell and moved to Gelsenkirchen. Over the next 11 years he helped the club to promotion in 1991 and cemented his place in Schalke folklore as one of the legendary 'Eurofighters'. His role in that campaign, coupled with 82 goals in 321 appearances, led to him being voted into Schalke’s 'team of the century', and perhaps more prestigiously, our Revierderby all-time XI.
Forward: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Dortmund)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrated his 24th goal of the season in the 150th Revierderby by donning a mask which did not go down well with Schalke fans, but provided another chapter in the Gabon forward's coloured career in the Bundesliga. That was one of six goals Aubameyang scored in seven Revierderbies, ranking him third on the all-time top Revierderby goalscorers' list behind Lothar Emmerich and Zorc. Oh, and he only ended up on the losing side once, although his red card contributed to BVB's collapse in that dramatic 4-4 draw in 2017.
Watch: Aubameyang's top 10 Bundesliga goals
Forward: Klaus Fischer (Schalke)
Fischer was one of the greatest goalscorers the Bundesliga ever saw. Averaging a goal every other game across 535 appearances with Cologne, Bochum, 1860 Munich and Schalke, his total of 268 strikes is second only to the great Gerd Müller in the league’s 56-year history. However, he really made his name with the Royal Blues where he netted 182 of those goals, becoming particularly famous for his love of scoring overhead kicks. Schalke’s all-time record scorer also kept up his amazing rate in the Revierderby where he bagged five in 11 appearances.
Watch: A look back at Fischer's overhead kicks and goalscoring record
Forward: Lothar Emmerich (Dortmund)
With ten Revierderby goals, Lothar Emmerich holds the record for the most strikes in the mother of all derbies. That is hardly surprising since Emmerich was the only player in Germany able to challenge Gerd Müller at the top of the goalscoring charts, winning with 31 in 1966 and finishing level with the Bayern legend on 28 a year later. His partner in crime was Sigfried Held, with the duo becoming known as the 'Terrible Twins'. Despite the pressures and passion of the Revierderby, Emmerich was never shown a single yellow card throughout his career, and not just in the heated exchanges with Schalke.
Coach: Jürgen Klopp (Dortmund)
Who better to orchestrate affairs from the touchline than the charismatic Jürgen Klopp? He oversaw 14 Revierderbies during his Dortmund years and while he may only have won four of them, losing five, they were always exciting affairs. None less so than his first ever taste of a Revierderby, in just his fourth game in charge of BVB back in September 2008. His career may not have taken off the way it did had his side not recovered from being 3-0 down on home soil midway through the second half, had Neven Subotic and Alexander Frei not reduced the arrears. Klopp could not then watch as Frei slotted home an 89th-minute penalty, sparking the first known sighting of his trademark fist-pumping touchline celebrations.
With such a team of Revierderby protagonists at his disposal, Klopp would likely be waving those fists emphatically with regularity on the bench of this Revierderby all-time XI.
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