Borussia Dortmund have not really had a memorable Bundesliga this season, but Jurgen Klopp and co. will look to add a positive memory to this campaign by beating their rivals Schalke in what promises to be a high-voltage Ruhr Derby on Tuesday night at the Westfalenstadion.
With the chance for the title long gone, as Bayern Munich dominate in some style, Dortmund and Schalke will play the rest of the season for second place, with just one point separating the two at the moment.
"Schalke have only one point less than we do, so it's not just the derby itself that motivates us," Dortmund striker Roberto Lewandowski, who scored a brilliant goal in the 3-0 win over Hannover on Saturday, told the club's official website.
"It's also the battle for second place, and that's where we want to finish the season. This is a real top match now, and we really want to win it. We fared quite well in the last couple of derbies, and I hope this is also the case on Tuesday. We will be highly motivated."
Schalke also come into the match with a victory, a 3-1 result over Eintracht Braunschweig, with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar getting in on the scoresheet again.
Manager Jens Keller now does not have the Champions League to worry about after Schalke were dumped out by Real Madrid, and the manager can get his team to fully concentrate on the job at hand in the Bundesliga.
"It's the game that everyone looks forward to," Keller said. "But we have to keep a cool head. We're having a very, very good second half of the season. We know where our strengths lie and are very upbeat going into the game.
"When you have the opportunity, you want to take it, but the important thing is where you are after 34 matches have been played. Our objective remains a place in the Champions League."
Team news: Borussia Dortmund: Klopp has plenty of injury problems with Jakub Blaszczykowski (knee), Neven Subotic (knee), Ilkay Gundogan (back), Marcel Schmelzer (groin) and Sven Bender (groin) all sidelined. But the manager will hope to have forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang back in the squad.
Schalke: Keller is not faring too well with injuries either with Benedikt Howedes (groin), Jefferson Farfan (knee), Felipe Santana (hamstring), Christian Fuchs (knee), Marco Hoger, Dennis Aogo (cruciate), Jan Kirchhoff (ankle), Atsuto Uchida (hamstring) and Christian Clemens (pelvis) all sidelined.
Where to Watch Live
The game is scheduled for an 8 pm local time start (12.30 am IST, 7 pm GMT, 3 pm ET) start with live coverage on Sky Sport in Germany, Neo Sports in India, ESPN in UK and GolTV in USA. The game can be watched via live streaming online in Germany HERE. Viewers in the UK can do the same HERE, while US viewers can live stream the action HERE. Catch the action in South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa HERE, while Australia viewers can do so HERE.
