The best Bundesliga teams in the 2022/23 season, Borussia Dortmund and FSV Mainz 05, will go head-to-head in the German A-Junior Championship final at the Mewa-Arena on Sunday (11:00 CET). “There will be a lot of quality on the pitch on both sides. I’m expecting a very close game,” said U19 national team coach Guido Streichsbier.

BVB will travel to Rhenish Hesse full of confidence. “We’re delighted that we’ve crowned an outstanding season by qualifying for the final. The lads should enjoy the game in front of a big crowd. But we will of course give everything we have once again to win the title. That would be the cherry on the cake,” assured head coach Mike Tullberg, who sees the fact that the opposition have been drawn at home as a “small advantage for Mainz”. He added confidently: “We know this situation and we can deal with it well, because it feels like we’ve only had knockout matches and are used to not being able to lose.”

The Black & Yellows have claimed some important victories on the road this season. One example was in Copenhagen, when a place in the knockout stages of European competition was at stake and Paris Brunner scored an 87th-minute goal to seal a 1-0 win. Another was in the play-off round, when they came from 1-0 down in Edinburgh to beat Hibernian 2-1 thanks to goals from Julian Rijkhoff and Hendry Blank. Then there was the semi-final of the German Championship, in which a 4-0 first-leg victory in Berlin paved the way for final qualification. Farouk Cisse, Nnamdi Collins, Tom Rothe, Vasco Walz, Samuel Bamba and Julian Rijkhoff all played in the final last year and therefore know about the special atmosphere and the excitement. “This experience is a small plus for Borussia,” believes Mainz boss Benjamin Hoffmann.

Because while BVB are chasing a title hat-trick following their triumphs in 2019 and 2022 – no title was awarded in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic – FSV Mainz 05 are back on the big stage for the first time since 2009 (2-1 defeat at the hands of Dortmund). “The club is on tenterhooks. You can sense that it’s something special for Mainz to play in a final,” confirmed FSV youth boss Volker Kersting. Mike Tullberg is much more relaxed. “Whatever the outcome: If someone had told me before the season that we would be the unbeaten Western German champions, reach the UEFA Youth League quarter-finals and qualify for the German Championship final, I would’ve taken it immediately. The team has always delivered. The final is a great way to finish off. Nuances and the form on the day will decide the outcome.”

Clash of the coaches: Tullberg versus Hoffmann

The touchline battle promises to be highly interesting too. In the Dortmund dugout is Mike Tullberg, who has been successful with Borussia’s U19s and shaped the development of highly talented lads like Youssoufa Moukoko, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Ansgar Knauff and Tom Rothe. In the Mainz coaching zone is Benjamin Hoffmann, who also spent a large part of his life as a player at Borussia and then won two U19 championship titles as a coach. In Mainz, he has succeeded in steering the Zero-Fivers back to the top of German junior football. 

Hoffmann has put together an exciting team. The attacking duo of Brajan Gruda and Nelson Weiper are part of the senior squad and have had their first taste of Bundesliga action. Weiper has even scored two goals and is among the five most valuable German youth players, with a market value of €2.5 million. FSV Mainz 05’s sporting management also have high hopes for defender Philipp Schulz as well as attacking players Dennis Kaygin and Lovis Bierschenk.

In addition to his side’s individual qualities, Mike Tullberg is particularly counting on the compactness of the team and a sophisticated tactical plan to counter the opponent’s strengths: “Mainz are an unpleasant opponent that press brutally, do not take big risks, play long balls and possess special quality going forward. We’re preparing for that. We have nothing to shy away from, will get our opportunities and want to get our reward in the form of the Championship title.” (wiwi)