Dortmund and Schalke both have cause for Revierderby regrets | Andy Brassell

The cliche about draws between rivals keeping the peace may be habitually overcooked – the mere sight of a blue Schalke jersey at Dortmund Hauptbahnhof after Saturday’s game caused some consternation, according to local media – but a similar view over the context of the stalemate might occasionally be reached, as was the case here. “After the turf derby between FC Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund,” wrote Der Westen’s Daniel Sobolewski, “fans from both camps were in agreement. The 0-0 was a lucky one for BVB, and was not enough for S04.”

Both sets of supporters, then, ended the afternoon with empty stomachs, but for very different reasons. Both groups will have talked long into the night about finding the missing elements that could yet elevate their campaigns to hoped-for levels. Both teams, too, ended the afternoon with a teenage British winger who could have been the hero of the hour, but fell just short.

Respect was paid in the right places when we reached the end. “We were up against an opposition that had a plan,” argued Dortmund’s returning captain Marco Reus, in mitigation. “We’re not playing on the PlayStation.” With that said, this was largely a tame effort from Dortmund. Only one team in Saturday’s Bundesliga games managed fewer efforts at goal than BVB’s eight – Union Berlin, the league’s minnows, who were away at Bayern. It was, in the words of sporting director Michael Zorc, “laboured”.

The only exception was Jadon Sancho, scorer of the winner in the corresponding fixture in Gelsenkirchen last season, who forced Alexander Nübel into his only two saves of real note – one at the beginning of the match, and another towards the end. A week after BVB edged leaders Mönchengladbach without the England wide man, this was a reminder of how central he perpetually is to their hopes. Ultimately, they were grateful for Marwin Hitz, a late replacement for the unwell Roman Bürki, underlining that they really have two No 1-worthy goalkeepers, rather than a No 1 and a No 2.

The woodwork had done its bit too to stave off the worst too, keeping out first-half efforts from Salif Sané and Suat Serdar during a period in which the visitors were under pressure. Schalke’s own potential hero loomed large, too. Rabbi Matondo, who – like Sancho – graduated from Manchester City’s academy to the Bundesliga, arrived wearing a tag of the same route travelled as a millstone, but the Welsh teenager has had his first-team career jump-started by the arrival of David Wagner.

The coach has moved Matondo from the wing to a more central role and results have been encouraging. Lucien Favre’s side couldn’t deal with his pace and the directness of his movement for most of the afternoon and with a bit more poise in front of goal (and not withstanding Hitz presenting a formidable barrier), Matondo would have been the match-winner.

Then again, if Schalke had a top-class striker this tale (and perhaps their season) would have been a very different one. Wagner is working with limitations, and he knows it. He spoke afterwards in defence of his current crop of forward players, and told reporters that “very few strikers fit so well with Schalke” as Guido Burgstaller, their bustling target man. He couldn’t keep up the party line, though. “We’ll see what’s going on in the market and what options we have within the finances available.”

Wagner’s pride in his team was mitigated by frustration, just as it had been last week at Hoffenheim, a game in which they began well and finished defeated. It would have been unjust had the same happened here, but it could have happened, as Dortmund belatedly sparked into life in the closing quarter. Still, the real concern belonged more with Dortmund, after a second successive away game in which they looked powderpuff. The defeat at Inter in the Champions League, minus Reus, had been a non-event. Had this similarly blunt performance ended in a similar result, Favre – and the club’s decision makers – would have had more pressing issues to answer. Collapses in the Revierderby have done for the likes of Roberto Di Matteo and Peter Bosz before. There is no refuge from this fixture’s spotlight.

Even the opposition have an opinion. “They got through us once or twice,” Nübel noted of Dortmund’s attacking caprices, “but there was nobody in the penalty area to put it in the back of the net.” He could easily have been describing last Wednesday at San Siro. Without Paco Alcácer, whose return to training on Sunday after an achilles complaint was met with great relief, there is nobody in the squad with a real predator’s instinct, and it is being keenly felt.

Yet with so much pace and attacking punch still in the squad, the questioning of Favre is only intensifying. Zorc told Sky bluntly at full-time that “we are not discussing the coach with you”, but he didn’t deny that the club expect more. There is no sense that Favre’s job is under immediate threat, but his team feel a bit stuck and stodgy, especially given how many creative players he has at his disposal. What also concerns is Favre’s history of not responding especially well as the pressure has intensified, as the endings to his tenures at Hertha and Gladbach chronicle.

That expectation will go up a notch over the coming days. In less than a fortnight Dortmund will have completed a demanding quartet of fixtures taking in a Pokal meeting with Gladbach, the visit of unbeaten Wolfsburg, the return with Inter and finally a trip to Bayern. “There’s still everything to play for,” emphasised Zorc. Just how much is still on the table in two weeks’ time will go a long way to governing how the future unfolds.

Schalke’s map is less clearly defined, but they are certainly facing forwards. On Saturday “it was usually Schalke who were taking a chance”, wrote David Herten of Der Westen, “and that’s exactly what BVB should think about”. Fans of both sides are likely to think of little else this week.

Talking points

• What must be of equal frustration to Dortmund fans is that Bayern are hardly the well-oiled machine of previous incarnations, though they did briefly go top after beating Union Berlin. Robert Lewandowski set a new record by scoring in a ninth straight Bundesliga game from the start of the season – what was less expected was that it proved to be the winner with Union subsequently winning two penalties, scoring one and missing one.

• Gladbach are back on top after an exciting 4-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, in which the visitors more than played their part. Hats off too to Freiburg, who ended a week fraught with controversy over their new stadium by grinding their way to a 2-1 win over Leipzig.

• Paderborn are basking in the afterglow of their first win of the season, 2-0, over Fortuna Düsseldorf. “Going 4-3-3 was they key,” said Klaus Gjasula.