It’s time for the Westfalenpokal final, a Revierderby – what more could you ask for? A good three weeks after the 5-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund, VfL’s U17s now meet Schalke 04. It’s the last game of the season, the highlight of a joint journey.

Iago, Reece Oxford, Niklas Dorsch, Mergim Berisha and Noah Sarenren Bazee were all training individually and did not travel to Campoamor, with head coach Enrico Maaßen able to give the remaining players plenty of playing time. The same was true for the Berliners, as former FCA man Rani Khedira started in central midfield.

Just before the World Cup kicks off this November, American fans will have a chance to witness some international soccer at first hand in St. Louis, Missouri. Bayer 04 Leverkusen has announced that the team will play a friendly against MLS’s newest member, St. Louis CITY SC, on November 16. It will be the inaugural game at St. Louis’s brand-new CITYPARK stadium.

Now is an opportunity to take a breather and come back strong as the first international break of the year gives the players time to come together and prepare for the remaining nine Bundesliga games in the 2022/23 season. “The boys are critical of themselves because they know exactly how we have played. The focus now is on improving the feeling in every training session,” explained Sandro Schwarz ahead of the last international break of the season.

Prior to the World Cup break, it looked as though Borussia Dortmund had spurned any realistic chances of winning the title. BVB had lost six of their opening 15 matches and went into the long winter break nine points adrift of Bayern and in sixth position in the table.

Champions League last 16 second leg on Tuesday (21:00 CET) | Man City on a run of six home wins | RB Leipzig unbeaten in five UCL games

In his press conference before the DFB-Pokal meeting with Erzgebirge Aue on Sunday evening Bo Svensson confirmed that Switzerland full-back Silvan Widmer would be captain for the coming season.

The VfB Football School held several camps and coaching courses in Texas and New Jersey. The aim of these activities is to foster the development of children’s and youth football in the USA as well as further strengthening international relations.

Kick-off at the Jahn-Sportpark is on Tuesday, 9^th August, at 16:15. The stadium will be open at 15:00. Information about ticket sales will follow shortly.

The Green-and-Whites are back in Bundesliga action on Friday 10 February (20:30 CET), when they travel to FC Schalke 04. Addressing the media ahead of the match, VfL boss Niko Kovac shared his thoughts on… … recent results: “We’re obviously not happy with our last few results, but there are games that can be tight and go the other way. If I look at performances alone, I’m not scared at all. On the contrary, I’m feeling very positive.”