Bochum without Myron Boadu and Felix Passlack ahead of derby clash with Borussia Dortmund | OneFootball

Though it doesn’t bring with it the grandeur of German football’s famous “Revierderby” (Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke 04), Bundesliga lovers have grown accustomed to looking forward to VfL Bochum’s regular clash with Dortmund in the league these past few years. The Ruhrpott rivals do share history and animosity. In Schalke’s absence, one of North Rhine Westphalia’s “kleines Revierderbys” always proves fierce, competitive, and fun.

Since Bochum’s promotion back to the top flight ahead of the 2021/22 campaign (Schalke were famously relegated that year), Bochum-Dortmund and Köln-Gladbach have been the only larger Rheinderbys in the top flight in three of the last four Bundesliga campaigns. Bochum and Dortmund have met seven times in the league and once in the DFB Pokal.

Bochum fought Dortmund to 1-1 stalemates in three of the seven league fixtures, in addition to upsetting die Schwarzgelben in a seven-goal thriller back in April 2022. Thomas Reis’ Revierklub scored two goals in the final nine minutes to edge out Marco Rose’s BVB 4-3. Lately, Dortmund have regained their form and won the last two league meetings.

This weekend’s forthcoming match comes stocked full of storylines. New BVB trainer Niko Kovac – having secured the first win of his coaching tenure in the Champions League midweek – still desperately needs three Bundesliga points after last week’s loss against Stuttgart left them languishing in 11th place in the table. Last-laced Bochum will be hoping to deliver something special in front of their home fans on the Castoper Straße.

Prospects for Bochum nevertheless remain bleak thanks to news revealed both today and yesterday by the club themselves. Striker Myron Boadu (thigh injury) was officially ruled out by Bochum yesterday. A certain BVB castaway certainly looking forward to a showdown with the club that once shunned him – Felix Passlack (eye surgery) – is also sidelined.

Passlack was loaned out by Dortmund three times and was never able to gain much traction with his academy side. The 26-year-old made just 34 league appearances in six seasons as a Dortmund pro.

Despite the fact that Passlack often came through in unexpected and rare deployments a succession of head coaches (Lucien Favre, Marco Rose, and Edin Terzic) never found regular use for him.  Long-time BVB sporting director Michael Zorc once famously questioned the Bosttrop-native’s work ethic.

Dortmund showed no interest in renewing his expiring contract at the end of the 2022/23 season. Revierderby rivals Bochum took a chance on the former Germany U21 youth international that summer, snapping him up on a free.

Passlack’s first year with Bochum somewhat mirrored his career in general. While he managed two league goals and two assists during the 2023/24 season, he was only used in 15 of the 34 league fixtures.

This year had been much better as Passlack started all but one of the 21 league rounds played thus far. He garnered three assists whilst working as both a right fullback and wingback under head coaches Peter Zeidler and Dieter Hecking.

Bochum confirmed on Wednesday that minor eye surgery – sustained during last week’s highly physical 2-2 encounter with Holstein Kiel – will continue to sideline Passlack through the weekend.

Passlack is already the third player current trainer Hecking will have to do without. Unfortunately, Passlack’s left-rail counterpart Maximilian Wittek must also sit out on accumulated yellow card suspension.

Like Passlack, Wittek has been a regular this season appearing in all league fixtures. The Resurgent Boadu – also lost against Kiel after scoring both goals – cannot be called upon either. With seven tallies this season, Boadu is now the squad’s leading goal-scorer.

Unfortunately, the loss of Passlack particularly stings. Costa Rican right-back Cristian Gamboa is the only other player capable of playing Passlack’s position. the 35-year-old has logged only 125 minutes this season.

Gamboa did still manage to score a goal off the bench this year in a match-day seven loss to Hoffenheim. Moreover, two more injured players from the Kiel draw – Tom Krauß and Gerrit Holtmann – have been given the all clear.

GGFN | Peter Weis