In seasons past, you didn’t need to hear the din coming from the Westfalenstadion’s towering south stand, which can hold 25,000, to get the pulse racing on derby day. The buzz began well in advance, during the 20-mile drive between Gelsenkirchen and Dortmund. They’re smaller cities on a national scale, but they’re at the heart of western Germany’s bustling, congested and soccer-mad Ruhr region. And they’re at opposite ends of the Bundesliga’s most heated rivalry—the Revierderby between Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund.
“Normally on a Saturday morning on the Autobahn, you can see fans traveling from one city to the other.