German fans really are a class apart aren’t they.
They are loud, good fun and would even give ourselves a run for our money in the passion stakes.
But we don’t think even any Irish ultras could compete with what Schalke 04 fans got upto ahead of their sides game with great rivals Borussia Dortmund this weekend.
The meeting of the two clubs is known as the Revierderby, and before the game Schalke fans arrived to the club’s training base with flares as they surrounded the pitch to create a scene of the pitch being on fire.
https://twitter.com/WSCsm/status/662982204151234560
That was impressive enough from a height, until you get pitchside and see how impossible it was for the team to try and train amid all the smoke.
Which we thought might have been a bit counter productive for a team hoping to beat Dortmund on Sunday.
#derbymodus #s04 pic.twitter.com/LLmMvNEdyH
— Volker Spätgens (@vspaetgens) November 7, 2015
Thankfully there was no smoke by the time the team got out to train and allowed these fans clear their throats
Huge pre-derby excitement here in #Gelsenkirchen! #BVBS04 #s04 https://t.co/zce1RjyCR6
— FC Schalke 04 (@s04_en) November 7, 2015