Looking Forward to Top Matches: U19 Kicks Off Youth League Campaign Against Villarreal | OneFootball

The scenario

The Black and Yellows were pleased with their 5-1 victory over RW Essen in the DFB Youth League, a successful dress rehearsal in terms of the result. Now all eyes are on the season opener in the UEFA Youth League. “We’ll give it our all to impose our style of play and get off to a successful start in the Youth League,” Hirschnagl assures. To reach the round of 32, BVB would need to finish between 1st and 22nd in the final standings after their matches against Villarreal, Bodø/Glimt, Sabah FC, Real Betis, Arsenal, and Inter Milan.

In his first Youth League season, Hirschnagl led the Black and Yellows to an 11th-place finish, celebrating spectacular away victories against Juventus Turin (3–2), FC Copenhagen (2–0), and Manchester City (3–0). In the knockout round, the Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar proved to be their undoing. Despite an impressive performance, BVB lost 0–4. “We had to learn the hard way back then,” said Hirschnagl.

Roster

A large portion of the team is also part of this year’s Youth League roster, which Hirschnagl is able to assemble on short notice and only after consulting with first-team coach Niko Kovac and U23 coach Daniel Rios. “The biggest challenge is to put together a competitive team that can execute our game plan within this tight timeframe,” said Hirschnagl. The coach will make some changes to the lineup against Villarreal compared to the DFB Youth League and will be able to bolster the team with players from the U23 squad.

Opponent

Over the weekend, Hirschnagl was only able to get a vague idea of the Spanish team’s form and playing style from several video clips, as their league season doesn’t begin until next weekend. Their current roster is exceptionally strong, even featuring a senior national team player: 17-year-old forward Andero Kaares, who joined Villarreal this summer, has already played in four international matches for Estonia and scored one goal.

The Spanish team, which celebrated a 2-1 victory over BVB in the group stage last year, finished fifth in the final standings of the previous Youth League season and was only narrowly eliminated in the quarterfinals with a 0-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain. (wiwi)