U19 Caps Off Training Camp with Friendly Win

At the former club of U19 head coach Felix Hirschnagl, the Black and Yellows came back from a 0-1 deficit (Efe Karakoc, 10th minute) in the second half. Keron Hagemann scored the equalizer in the 55th minute, and Fadi Zarqelain netted the winning goal shortly before the final whistle. “The lads put into practice a lot of what we set out to do and worked on over the last few days. We’re making good progress,” Felix Hirschnagl concluded positively.

At training camp, he had focused on ball movement. “The group is very eager to learn and has good energy overall,” Hirschnagl noted. In Munich, the injured Lenni Strößner and new signing Peniel Poba were absent. Johann Lasse Jaensch suffered a knee injury during the game. Liam Claude Kanté, who was just signed, made a promising debut in the second half. “He’s fully integrated and incredibly ambitious,” Hirschnagl said, praising the defender from Lokomotiva Zagreb.

After a day of rehabilitation at the youth training center, the players will take a short break. “I’m a little sad that they have days off now, because working with them is really a lot of fun,” said Hirschnagl. The final phase of preseason training begins this coming Sunday, and the dress rehearsal before the competitive season kicks off on the last weekend of July in Leverkusen. As part of a performance test, BVB will face host Bayer Leverkusen as well as Eintracht Frankfurt (July 27).

Things will get serious for the U19 teams when the DFB Cup—now expanded to 64 teams—kicks off on Sunday, August 2 (11 a.m.), as they face Holstein Kiel in their first competitive match of the season.

“We know Kiel from last season’s Junior League main round and expect them to be a tough opponent,” said Hirschnagl. A week later, play begins in the DFB youth leagues. BVB will kick off the season on August 9 (11 a.m.) with an away match against RW Oberhausen.