Third game, third victory: Borussia Dortmund’s A-Juniors have had a flawless preliminary round so far. The Black and Yellows beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0.
Borussia Dortmund’s U19 team remains unbeaten in the DFB Youth League. On the third matchday, BVB also won 2-0 at Bayer Leverkusen. Two decisive moments in the first half secured a deserved away victory.
The match between the two top teams in Group H was less than a minute old when Samuele Inacio appeared in front of the Leverkusen goalkeeper and slotted the ball home. With the goal behind them, the task became easier for the Black and Yellows, even though the level of play dropped off in the rest of the first half. Shortly before halftime, the next important scene occurred: Ferdinand Pohl pulled the emergency brake in the 44th minute and was sent off. Mathis Albert’s goal in the 53rd minute sealed the victory in the second half. Even though the early goal and the red card were situations that turned the game on its head, youth coach Felix Hirschnagl was satisfied with his team: “Of course, we took an early lead, but the red card didn’t come until the 44th minute and we played well up until then. However, the sending-off didn’t stop Leverkusen from putting us under pressure. They have quality, which is why it got closer again at the end, but overall I’m very satisfied.”
This means that Borussia have a perfect record after three games. Nine points from three games and a goal difference of 10-0 are impressive, but the next difficult game is already coming up. “Bochum are coming on Sunday and that will be our next challenge,” said Hirschnagl, looking ahead. “The win has given us good feedback, but we can’t rest on our laurels. Let’s keep going!”
The Werkself are looking back on an unfortunate game, but coach Sergi Runge can still take something away from it: “We can work well with the insights gained from the game because there were also a lot of positives. The minor problems are nothing we can’t solve. In the end, we put pressure on them but didn’t reward ourselves. Overall, the game just didn’t go our way.”
In addition to a number of scouts, there was another well-known spectator at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion – Hanno Balitsch, coach of the German U19 national team, was there in person. In the last U19 European Championship squad, only Almugera Kabar and Kjell Wätjen (now on loan to VfL Bochum) were from BVB. It is not unlikely that Balitsch himself wanted to observe some talents that he could nominate soon. The next junior international match is scheduled for October 8 in Armenia. It is possible that players from Dortmund’s A-youth team will participate. Until then, the young players can continue to showcase their skills in the DFB Youth League. Dortmund’s next big game is this Sunday (August 24), when they host VfL Bochum’s A-youth team, which also won its first two games.
