English week sees U23s make away trip to Regensburg

The Black & Yellows do not have much time to catch their breath: they must take to the field in the heart of the Upper Palatinate only a little more than 72 hours after their (1-0) win over the SC Freiburg U23s. The clash with the team relegated from the second tier last season is also a meeting between two sides who have taken four points from their first two matches. Regensburg drew 1-1 at home to Unterhaching in their opening game and followed that up with a 2-1 victory at SC Verl on Sunday.

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The U23s will take the ICE train to Regensburg, a city of 160,000 inhabitants located south-east of Nuremberg, following their training session on Tuesday morning. Hendry Blank is likely to be in a particularly euphoric mood on the train. The central defender, who moved up to the U23s from the U19s in the summer, made his competitive debut at senior level against Freiburg – on the day before his 19th birthday. “There is no better present,” explained Blank after the match, adding: “Before the season, I wouldn’t have expected that I’d get a chance at all, so I was very happy.”

Blank initially needed a few minutes to settle into the match, as his coach Jan Zimmermann noted: “He needed some time and wasn’t so courageous to begin with. But then he made good decisions by playing it safe and not trying anything wild. By doing that, he gradually gained more confidence and worked his way into it.” 

The defender has earned the right to make his first start over recent weeks. “He has impressed throughout pre-season and made a really good impression,” praised Zimmermann. However, Blank’s debut was over by the 66th minute. “My calves seized up at the end,” revealed the defender, who continued with a grin: “That doesn’t happen to me often.”

But the man who turned 19 on Monday has had an eventful few weeks, having made the journey to the USA with the first team. “That was one of my best experiences. I learned a great deal over the 10 days, I was able to observe a great deal,” emphasised Blank. Mats Hummels, in particular, was a big help to him: “He came up to me often during the build-up play training and said, for example: ‘You’re doing well, but play the ball more sharply’.”

It is unclear whether Blank will be allowed to start again three days after his debut in Regensburg. Zimmermann has also been coy on whether he will rotate three days on from the Freiburg game at the Rote Erde, which was played in searing 30 degree heat. “It’s a possibility, but not a must. We’ll see how one or two players are doing and what will be good for our game against Regensburg. I assume we will be rested by Wednesday. But we have enough alternatives who are ready.”

BVB have come away from all three of their previous trips to Regensburg empty-handed, with all three matches ending in defeat. But that doesn’t have to be a bad omen. Until last Sunday, the Black & Yellows had never won at home to SC Freiburg’s U23. Now they want to break their next duck.
Daniel Mertens