Borussia Dortmund have another away game against a regional rival coming up: the Black & Yellows will be at Sportpark Höhenberg to face FC Viktoria Cologne on Sunday (14:00 CET).

“We’re on a run,” said coach Jan Zimmermann of the upward turn his team have taken over the course of recent weeks. The 2-1 defeat to Verl in Paderborn during that period was little more than an isolated setback, with the 2-0 home victory against league leaders Elversberg last weekend a fitting reaction from the team. “We deserved to win. That gave us a very important feeling. The lead was good for our game,” said Zimmermann.

Now the aim is to improve upon their record against the Cathedral City club: the U23s have emerged victorious in only two of their 11 competitive meetings against Viktoria Cologne in the Regionalliga West and the 3. Liga since 2015 (three draws, six defeats). In the reverse fixture at the start of November, they lost 2-0 at Wuppertal’s Stadion am Zoo thanks to two late goals in the closing minutes.

With 51 points on the board, Viktoria are 11 points and six places better off than the Dortmund U23s in the table. But an away win on Sunday afternoon would serve to cut that deficit. However, BVB coach Jan Zimmermann emphasised: “We have always disregarded the table so far and will continue to do so as well.”

The objective in the final four games of the season will be to keep the tension levels high. The next opponents will certainly be a special challenge for the team. “Viktoria attack with a lot of courage and are an opponent that we’ll have to defend well against,” said Zimmermann. In addition, the opposition are in good form: the men from the Rhineland have suffered only one defeat in their last 10 competitive matches (3-2 in Elversberg).

The game on Sunday will also be a duel between two emerging goalscorers: Cologne’s Robin Meißner sits seventh in the goalscoring charts with 12 goals, six of which have come in the last seven games. In the Dortmund camp, Justin Njinmah has netted 11 goals – only one fewer than his Cologne counterpart. He has netted six times in his last nine games.

Should BVB win their match on the Rhine and Oldenburg fail to beat Saarbrücken, the Black & Yellows will be able to plan for next season with the mathematical certainty that they will be in the 3. Liga once more.

With the exception of Dennis Lütke-Frie, the coach will have a full squad at his disposal in Cologne.
Daniel Mertens