U19 loses Youth League opener despite leading twice | OneFootball

Roster

Injuries and illnesses forced Felix Hirschnagl to juggle the lineup. Top scorer Bjarki Gardarsson was out due to a persistent illness, and Marwan Mirza suffered a ligament injury during the final training session. In addition, Enzo Duarte dos Santos and Mussa Kaba—who had initially been slated to play in the Youth League—remain sidelined.

Goalkeeper Aaron Held and defender Tim Degener—two of the five older players allowed—joined the starting lineup, which also saw the return of Jan-Luca Riedl, Luke Fahrenhorst, and Fadi Zarqelain (all most recently with the U23s). The squad was rounded out by U17 players Niclas Goldberg, Hamzath Mohamadou, and Georgio Zisopoulos.

Match Summary

The Black and Yellows started strongly and pressured the defensively compact visitors with high pressing and strong tackling. Tim Degener had the first shot on goal. However, his 16-meter shot posed no major problems for Villarreal goalkeeper Pablo Polo (11th minute). Justin Hoy, once again very active, tried his luck from the left side shortly afterward, but to no avail. The same happened in the 34th minute, when, following a combination play involving Fahrenhorst and Degener, he was denied by Polo, and Ahmad Najdi failed to capitalize on the rebound. Hoy was rewarded for his presence and willingness to run in the 39th minute with the opening goal. After dribbling past his defender, he fired the ball into the net from a tight angle.

The Black and Yellows’ celebration had barely died down when the Spaniards—who had managed only a few offensive moves up to that point—responded with the equalizer. After Dortmund lost possession in midfield, they quickly combined their way toward the BVB penalty area. The unmarked Gonzales Garcia had no trouble slotting home a cross from his teammate Guillamon to make it 1–1—a fortunate halftime score for Villarreal.

The Borussians remained on the attack and in control of the team after the restart. In the 53rd minute, they celebrated Jan-Luca Riedl, who had scored a dream goal with a long-range shot from the right side into the left corner. But once again, the joy was short-lived. In the 68th minute, Villarreal punished their opponents’ sloppy defending by equalizing once more: Sergio Barrera headed a cross from Mauro Roca into the net.

Five minutes later, the visitors completely turned the game around. Aaron Held parried a shot by substitute Rodriguez; the ball bounced unluckily to Niklas König’s feet and then trickled over the goal line. Led by Justin Hoy and with new players in several positions, the young Borussians side pressed for the equalizer. Villarreal defended compactly against attacks that were, at times, all too predictable. Till Burkhardt squandered the last chance following a cross from Kevin Vogt (82')—and BVB is already under pressure to succeed in its next two away games if it is to stay on track with its ambitious goals.

Quote

Felix Hirschnagl: “This is a painful loss. We scored two goals during phases where we deserved them and had worked hard for them. But I feel we lack the hunger to push for more when we have the opponent on the ropes. Instead of going into halftime up 1–0 or adding a third to make it 3–1, we conceded avoidable goals. That’s something I can’t understand, and it hurts.”

Outlook

BVB will wrap up the first half of the group stage in Group H of the DFB Youth League on Sunday with an away match at Fortuna Düsseldorf (kickoff at 11 a.m. at Paul-Janes-Stadion). The Black and Yellows will play their next UEFA Youth League match on Wednesday, October 14, at Bodø/Glimt.