Borussia Dortmund Haberleri

Due to the Verdi strike, there will be no services operating on DSW21 light rail and bus lines on Friday. This applies from the start of the day’s operations (approx. 03:30 CET) to the end of operations (approx. 01:30 CET the following day). The Unishuttle will also be affected. Similarly, the bus lines operated by DSW21 in the neighbouring towns of Castrop-Rauxel (480, 481, 482 and NE 11) and Schwerte (430, 435 and NE 25) will be affected. Deutsche Bahn and S-Bahn trains that are not affected by the strike may be far busier than usual. Please check directly with your local transport network about possible additional rail capacities (e.g. “Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe”).

Borussia Dortmund are currently trying to collect information from all the relevant parties with a view to the upcoming home match against Leipzig on Friday (kick-off 20:30 CET). As always, a large number of attendees would expect to make use of the local public transport system.

BVB emerged 5-4 victors in the shootout following a 1-1 draw in normal time. Farouk Cisse, Julian Rijkhoff, Michel Ludwig, Cole Campbell and Samuel Bamba clinically converted their spot-kicks, before Silas Ostrzinski ultimately marked himself out as the hero by saving the fifth and final PSG penalty from forward Ilyes Housni. “We knew Silas would save at least one penalty and that put us at a slight advantage,” beamed Mike Tullberg. BVB now face another home tie in the quarter-final, where they will take on Hajduk Split on 14/15 March. The Croats ran out surprise 2-1 winners against Manchester City.

The Dutch duo have a particularly tough task in store. The two Black & Yellows are set to go up against some high-class opponents in Eindhoven in the so-called “Golden League”, a test match tournament. First up on Thursday is a game against Czech Republic, which will be followed by two big clashes. World and European champions Norway will be the adversaries on Saturday, with vice European champions Denmark up on Sunday.

It will be a Herculean sporting challenge for his team. After all, PSG are the crème de la crème when it comes to European youth football. “As a coach, I have never faced such a strong junior team. For me, Paris are one of the top favourites for the title,” praised Tullberg. This international team is brimming with exceptional talents. Warren Zaire-Emery, who has only just turned 16, played alongside Lionel Messi, Neymar & Co. against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Top scorer Ilyes Housni, who has nine goals in the UEFA Youth League to date, has recently had his first taste of Ligue 1 action while Ethan Mbappé, the brother of Kylian Mbappé, has already represented the senior team too.

The scenario: Leading up to game, new U23s head coach Jan Zimmermann had lost his second game in a row last week, falling to a 2-0 defeat at Rot-Weiss Essen, leaving the Black and Yellows on just 21 points after 23 league games, so BVB headed into the match lying 16th in the league. Mannheim, meanwhile, still had hopes of promotion and headed to Oberhausen, where the Drittliga duel was taking place due to the ongoing construction work in the Rote Erde stadium, in fifth place.

The final score of 1-0 did not reflect the way the game went, as TSG Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund continuously exchanged blows – especially for much of the second half. “It was counter-attack after counter-attack,” said Nico Schlotterbeck, who worked with centre-back partner Niklas Süle to guard the BVB goal as well as possible. The fact that the final score was 1-0 was less down to wastefulness on the part of the strikers than outstanding performances from the two goalkeepers, Oliver Baumann and Gregor Kobel.

The Niederrheinliga side from Essen started with a lot of tempo and created the first chances of the match, with Caroline Junge opening the scoring for SGS on the 13-minute mark. As the match progressed, the Bezirksliga footballers increasingly got to grips with the visitors and twice went close to a possible equaliser via Mia Macarena Bedarf (23) and Marie Grothe (43).

The scenario: BVB were still unbeaten in the Bundesliga this year. Prior to the game against Bensheim/Auerbach, BVB were in third place and only two points adrift of Thüringer HC.

The East Westphalians lost their table-topping clash with FC Schalke 04, who have already qualified for the Final Round of the German Championship, 3-0. Bielefeld (32 points), BVB (29) – who both have the same goal difference – and Leverkusen (28) are now competing for second spot. Arminia will be away to Borussia Mönchengladbach at the weekend, while Borussia Dortmund will visit relegation-embattled FC Hennef 05 and Leverkusen will face Duisburg.