Borussia Dortmund and Schalke played out the Ruhr derby ad-mist of a violence breakout between both sets of fans. Around 1,200 officers were on hand for what German media has described as the worst rioting in the area for years. And in the pitch, Dortmund were stunned to another defeat as rivals Schalke over came them with a 2-1 score line. Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp has said his side must improve drastically for Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League clash at home to Real Madrid and has to forget the derby defeat immediately.
Real Madrid who are top of Group D with two wins against both City and Ajax, and Klopp says Dortmund must improve greatly on their performance against Schalke if they are going to trouble the Spanish giants.
“Everything has to be better, we must tick off the Schalke game and next time just show what we can do, Jakub Blaszczykowski will not be ready in time, whether the other three are available again, I do not know yet. Each day helps,” said Klopp.
Injuries to key players made Klopp to switched to a 4-4-2 formation against Schalke, with Poland striker Robert Lewandowski and Germany star Marco Reus up front. But the move backfired as Schalke took an early lead and Klopp admitted his error.
“I put my hand up to that,” he said. “I only wanted to improve the formation, but it didn’t work and I have to accept that. We are capable of playing much better.
“We have been playing really good football recently, sometimes even better than last season, but we didn’t do enough against Schalke and it wasn’t just about the four injuries.”