In the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund’s U19s are racing from one victory to the next, and in the UEFA Youth League, the BVB youngsters will take on Newcastle United on Wednesday at Gateshead International Stadium (kick-off: 16:00 CET, live on DAZN) in a match that could influence the fate of the group, following a 1-0 win at Paris Saint-Germain and a 2-1 home defeat to AC Milan. 

BVB are second in the group, level with PSG on 3 points. Milan have taken the maximum 6 points and lead the way in Group F. Newcastle, on the other hand, need a victory to at least keep their chances of qualifying for the play-off round alive following a 4-0 away defeat in Milan and a 1-0 home loss to Paris.

Mike Tullberg is not judging the quality of his next opponents based on their current position in the group: “Newcastle learned some valuable lessons in Milan and were very unlucky to lose to Paris in added time. They are a compact team with strong runners and are very well-trained.” The young team will be reinforced by three players who have bolstered the first team squad this season: captain Jamie Miley, midfielder James Huntley and right-back Ciavan Thompson. Newcastle currently lie fifth in the U18 Premier League. The team’s coach is Ben Dawson, who is also the coach of the U21 side.

“We want to get as many points as possible in the group stage,” said Mike Tullberg, who is expecting “a game between evenly matched sides” in Newcastle and is preparing his boys to face “a physically robust opponent”: “Newcastle play power football and employ brutal offensive pressing. We have to be wide awake.” His team have been pushed to their limits in the first two group matches, exceeding expectations in Paris, and gave as good as they got against AC Milan, who Tullberg regards as “currently Europe’s strongest U19s”, for long periods of the second half.

Hendry Blank and Samuel Bamba return

The youngsters, led by captain Filippo Mane, are brimming with confidence after a comfortable 3-1 derby triumph in Bochum in the Bundesliga. Tullberg was full of praise and acknowledged an “outstanding team performance.” In Newcastle, too, “we can only be successful as a tight-knit group, because if we play as individuals, the opposition will have the advantage,” stressed the coach.

There are not expected to be many personnel changes from the squad that faced Bochum. Centre-back Hendry Blank from the U23s should stabilise the defence and the pacey Samuel Bamba should shine in particular with his quality in transition. Julian Rijkhoff, who is particularly fond of scoring in the UEFA Youth League (10 goals in total), will lead the line in attack. “Newcastle will offer us space and we will come up with way to use it,” promised Tullberg. If they can take a point home, it would be a valuable step in the right direction, namely towards second place in the group. (wiwi)