The Bundesliga's Top Five Rivalries

Schalke 04 vs Borussia Dortmund

The Revierderby is one of the biggest in Germany and it pits the Royal Blues from Gelsenkirchen in Schalke 04 against Germany's second most successful club of all-time in Borussia Dortmund.

With 33 km seperating the grounds, Dortmund and Schalke have two of the most impressive stadiums in the Bundesrepublik with both boasting the 5 star award from UEFA which grants them the ability to host European finals.

Historical Results

Biggest win (Bundesliga era):

Borussia Dortmund 7 - 0 Schalke: 1965-66 season

Most memorable 21st century matchup:

Borussia Dortmund 4 - 4 Schalke: 2017-18 season

See below:

Schalke upset Borussia Dortmund

In November 2017, Dortmund hosted Schalke at the Signal Iduna Park in an unforgettable 4-4 draw as the side from Gelsenkirchen came back from a 4-0 deficit to earn an extremely valuable and hard-fought point in the 95th minute through a thumping header via defender Naldo from a corner.

Head to Head

Borussia Dortmund have won 37 games in the Bundesliga, whereas Schalke have won 32. Both sides have drawn 31 times in the league.

‍

‍

1. FC Köln vs Borussia Mönchengladbach

The Rhinederby is a staple of any footballing calendar in the city of Cologne, Germany. Despite having many games the FC Köln fans may call a 'Rhinederby', there is only one game these fans would refer to as the ultimate Rhinederby.

Despite 1. FC Köln's stadium and city being geographically closer to the city of Leverkusen, the rivalry between "Die Fohlen" (The foals a.k.a Borussia Mönchengladbach) and "Die Geißböcke" (the billy goats a.k.a 1. FC Köln) is one which has much more historical context and hatred.

In the season of 1977/78 the two sides were neck and neck in the race for the Meisterschale ahead of the last game and were level on points. Despite winning 12-0 against Borussia Dortmund, Gladbach missed out on winning the Bundesliga on goal difference by three goals as their rivals had won 5-0 that same day.

What made matters worse for Borussia Mönchengladbach was that the manager who won the league for Köln was Gladbach's former coach and now club legend for their rivals, Hennes Weisweiler.

Historical Results

Biggest win (Bundesliga era):

Borussia Mönchengladbach 5 - 1 1. FC Köln: 2010-11 Season

Most memorable 21st century matchup:

Borussia Mönchengladbach 3 - 3 1. FC Köln: 2023-24 Season

See below:

1. FC Köln in entertaining draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach

‍

With Köln fighting relegation and facing a tough away trip to the Borussia Park, they desperately needed to get a result against a team with only one loss in their last nine home games that season.

Starting quickly, Faride Alidou opened the scoring for the Billy Goats within the first ten minutes. However, Franck Honorat responded in the 32nd minute to equalize and keep the score level at half-time.

Early in the second half, Alidou scored once again for Köln to bag a brace in the 62nd minute. Despite this, a brace within three minutes from Mönchengladbach's Robin Hack turned the tie around fully.

But, with just over ten minutes left a nineteen-year-old Damion Downs nets one last goal for Köln to tie the game at 3-3. This was his first ever senior goal for Köln.

Head to Head

Borussia Mönchengladbach have won 52 games in the Bundesliga, whereas Köln have won 28. Both sides have drawn 18 times in the league.

‍

‍

Hamburger SV vs St. Pauli

The Hamburg derby is one of the biggest rivalries in northern Germany with the clubs Hamburg and St. Pauli only being separated by 7km within the Hanseatic city of Hamburg.

In recent years, this rivalry has heated up once again as both teams had found themselves within Germany's second division (2. Bundesliga) from 2018 to 2024.

Despite this, 2024 marks the first ever season in which St. Pauli are a league above their rivals Hamburg as they got promoted as the winners of the 2023-24 Bundesliga 2 campaign.

Hamburg have also had the worse record in the 2. Liga against their rivals, with St. Pauli having won five of the second tier matchups whilst Hamburg have won four.

Historical Results

Biggest win (Bundesliga):

Hamburg 5 - 0 St. Pauli: 1990-1991 season

Most memorable 21st century matchup:

Hamburg 4 - 3 St. Pauli 2022-23 season

See below:

Hamburg fight off St. Pauli comeback to win derby

‍

With Hamburg on a charge to gain promotion back to the Bundesliga, they faced a tough test against fellow promotion hopefuls and arch rivals St. Pauli in late April.

Having led 1-0 via a Manolas Saliakas goal shortly before half time, St. Pauli's lead at the Volksparkstadion was destroyed by three Hamburg goals within ten minutes either side of the halfway mark.

However, Elias Saad scored with twenty minutes left to bring some nerves to the home crowd only for an own goal to ease the home support. Lastly, a goal from captain Jackson Irvine was not enough for a point in the end as Hamburg widened the gap in the race for promotion.

Head to Head

Hamburg have won eight Bundesliga ties, whilst St. Pauli have only managed two top flight wins. There have been six draws in Germany's top division.

‍

Hertha Berlin vs Union Berlin

The Berlin derby between Hertha BSC and Union Berlin is one that has a lot of historical context, as the two clubs were separated into the East and West Berlin districts for many years before the reunification of Germany.

After reunification, Union Berlin fell upon some financial struggles and only managed to finally be promoted into the second division in 2009. In late 2010, the first game between the two clubs since reunification occurred in the Bundesliga 2.

Since then, both clubs have enjoyed short spells in the same division, with the most notable spell being from 2019 to 2023 in Germany's top flight (Bundesliga).

‍

Historical Results

Biggest win (Bundesliga):

Hertha BSC 4 - 0 Union Berlin: 2019-2020 season

‍

Most memorable 21st century matchup:

Hertha BSC 4 - 0 Union Berlin: 2019-2020 season

See below:

Hertha Berlin smash Union Berlin in the Berlin derby

‍

In only the second week of German football having returned after the lockdown via the Coronavirus pandemic, a must-watch tie between Hertha Berlin and Union Berlin was on the cards.

Despite dominating possession, Hertha were unable to gain any advantage before half time. In the second half, Hertha created a lot of chances and slowly dismantled their rivals with four goals in twenty-five minutes to overcome Union Berlin without much challenge.

In this tie, Union Berlin failed to register even one shot on goal during the entire ninety minutes.

‍

Head to Head

Union Berlin have won six of the first flight matchups, whilst Hertha have won two. There has only been one single draw between the two sides.

‍

Other notable derbies:

Of course, there are multiple other derbies within German football and other rivalries that also have huge historical significance. The noteworthy ones are listed below:

Hamburger SV vs Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich vs 1860 Munich, Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund ("Der Klassiker"), 1. FC Köln vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen, VfB Stuttgart vs Stuttgarter Kickers, Hannover 96 vs Eintracht Braunschweig.

‍

‍

Have we missed any?

For any of your favourite derbies within German football that we missed, feel free to comment on the latest post on our X (formerly Twitter) post via the link here.
‍