SC Paderborn will bring 6,300 supporters to Borussia Dortmund on Saturday at 15:30, its largest away following in seven years and the clearest sign that the westfälisches Duell still pulls a crowd. The number gives Ralf Kettemann a travelling end that is bigger than any Paderborn away section since autumn 2019.
That is why Dortmund Vs Paderborn is drawing attention now: the away block had 8,000 tickets available, and the gap between that figure and the 6,300 sold shows that the demand was strong without filling every seat. Borussia Dortmund then passed the unused guest tickets to its own fans, adding to a home support that has already been the biggest in the league early in the season.
The scale matters because Dortmund has set the pace on both sides of the attendance table. Its first home match against Hamburger SV was sold out, and its away support has also topped the league early on. In Sinsheim, 9,000 BVB fans produced the largest away crowd of the season so far, a marker that gives this Saturday's atmosphere a place in the wider pattern around Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
Paderborn's travelling figure also sits above its own recent baseline. The club last brought more fans to a match in Dortmund in autumn 2019, when 6,700 SCP supporters made the trip, and its season best away crowd in the 2021/22 season was set at the away match at Hannover. So Saturday's total is not a record, but it is close enough to show that the club can still mobilise far from home when the fixture carries the right pull.
The unresolved part is simple: a guest section with 8,000 places did not sell out even as Paderborn prepared its biggest away end in seven years. That leaves Dortmund with a full home stadium feel, extra BVB fans in the guest area, and a comparison point for the rest of the league if more than 10,000 supporters travel from VfB Stuttgart to TSG Hoffenheim. For Kettemann and his team, the trip is already notable before a ball is kicked; for Dortmund, it is another entry in a season where even the away stands are helping define the scale of its support.
