Derby, DFB Cup, Top Tournament! BVB’s Youth Team Kicks Off | OneFootball

Youth Matches at a Glance

U23: VfL Bochum II – BVB (Regionalliga West): 1 August, 2026, 2:00 p.m. (Mondpalast Arena Herne, Tickets: VfL Bochum Online Ticket Shop)

BVB – Holstein Kiel (DFB Cup): 1 August, 2026, 11:00 a.m. (BVB Youth Academy)

U17: BVB vs. Union Berlin, Manchester City, and FC Copenhagen (tournament in Berlin): 1–2 September, 2026, starting at 10:15 a.m. (Stadion An der Wuhlheide in Berlin)

U23: A “special game” for Rios right off the bat

Head coach Daniel Rios’s team kicks off the new Regionalliga season with an exciting derby. Last season’s fifth-place finisher travels to face local rivals VfL Bochum II, who finished the previous season in 13th place. Much will depend on how quickly the largely revamped team finds its rhythm and how the team compensates for the absence of Silas Ostrzinski, Arne Wessels, Takato Yamamoto, and Ayman Azhil, who have traveled to Japan with the First team. Veteran Connor Krempicki, who was signed from 1. FC Magdeburg just this week, is also likely to be part of the squad given the current thin roster. Encouraging signs include the successful preseason friendly against Jong FC Utrecht (5–1) as well as the two derbies against Bochum’s U23 team from last season, which BVB won (2–1 and 4–1). Rios looks ahead with optimism: “We’ve worked really well over the past few weeks, adapted well to the situation, and are looking forward to the season. It’s a special game because it’s a derby—even our new signings can feel that.”

U19: Cup Match to Kick Off the Season

The U19s will kick off the season with a knockout match. One week before the start of the preliminary round of the DFB Youth League against Rot-Weiß Oberhausen on 9 August, coach Felix Hirschnagl’s team will face Holstein Kiel on Saturday morning in the first round of the DFB Cup. Last season, BVB faced Kiel twice in the main round of the U19 Youth League, with the Black and Yellows winning both matches (3–2, 6–3). For the cup match at the home youth academy, the following players—who traveled to Japan—will be absent: Enzo Dos Santos, Tom Faust, Miguel Adje, Romeo Ritter, and Jan-Luca Riedl. “We haven’t been able to work with the full squad for 14 days and have to improvise a lot in training. The situation is what it is, and we’ll accept it,” said Hirschnagl. Last weekend’s doubleheader against Bayer Leverkusen (0–1) and Eintracht Frankfurt (1–4) provided the latest insights.

U17: High-Profile Tournament as a Dress Rehearsal

Unlike the U23 and U19 teams, the U17s do not have a competitive match scheduled for the first weekend in August. The star-studded Youngster Cup in Berlin will serve as a dress rehearsal for the start of the preliminary round of the Youth League on August 8 against Wuppertaler SV. In the preliminary round on Saturday, coach Karsten Gorges’ team will face host Union Berlin (10:15 a.m.), Manchester City (11:15 a.m.), and FC Copenhagen (1:00 p.m.). The preliminary round matches (Saturday) and final matches (Sunday) will take place at the An der Wuhlheide Stadium. The matches for fifth through eighth place will be held at the Oberspree Training Center. This is the sixth edition of the tournament, in which BVB finished in fifth place last year.