They've been through thick and thin, put set-backs behind them and picked themselves up again, sought to overcome all obstacles collectively, and shown that team-spirit can move mountains. Now they want to crown an exceptional season with the German A-Youth Championship title.

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Benjamin Hoffman promised that "we are ready" before the grand-final at the Signal Iduna Park against FC Bayern (Monday, 19:30 CET summertime, live on Sport1). Given the turbulent unfolding of the season, it is fitting that the ambitious football coach must once again improvise and replace one of his key players. Orel Mangala, the athletic, tough-tackling, omnipresent strategist in defensive midfield is suspended due to a controversial yellow-red carding in the semi-final against VfL Wolfsburg.

"It is annoying and a real shame, but another hurdle that we will simply have to leap", said Hoffman. It remains a secret how he will fill the Mangala shaped hole: "I will make my decision based on my impressions from the final training sessions. Perhaps we will also change our tactical set-up." Since his hand has already been forced a number of times, he has already tested just about every system, and thanks to intensive and targeted training work, his boys have internalised all of them, from a back three, to a 4-2-1-3 and a 4-1-4-1.

And so now to the surprise final against FC Bayern. The Black and Yellows were originally anticipating a derby in the championship final after the first-legs of the semi-finals had played out as they did. However, Schalke surrendered a 4-1 aggregate lead. Benjamin Hoffman, who was present to witness the "Bayern wonder of Wattenscheid" warned as such: "A team that wins 4-1 against Schalke in a single half has got to be very strong. The Munich boys also played wonderful football. A sense of euphoria and self-confidence is what they will bring to the final."

Respect for a strong Bayern attack

Their robust group of attacking players left behind a particularly strong impression. Hoffman: "Timothy Tillman and Manuel Wintzheimer bring great individual quality with them. But we mustn't only concentrate on these two young men. Almost all of their players have scored at some point during the season." Wintzheimer has scored the most (14). Furthermore, Benjamin Hadzic (9), Mario Crnicki (6) and Marco Friedl (5) are all in respectable positions on the Bundesliga South top-scorer list.

Felix Götze, who learned his football ABC at BVB, and who ended up at FC Bayern because of his famous older brother's transfer, is also not to be forgotten. His tally amounts to 6, an excellent return for a defensive player who has already been included in the senior squad at times this season. The return of the former BVB talent for the final will add a little extra spice to the fixture. 

A record gate is expected

What is certain is that the final will be played out in front of a larger public than the 15,117 spectators who witnessed Borussia's semi-final defeat against TSV 1860 Munich last year. It seemed then that the atmosphere had got to the players a little bit and might even have been impacting on their game negatively. Benjamin Hoffman is now expecting a more positive reaction from his team: "Felix Passlack and Dzenis Burnic have already told the lads how great it feels to play in front of so many fans. Furthermore, we should have profited from the experience gained in the UEFA Youth League, for example, when we played in front of more than 10,000 onlookers in Haifa."

Everything is set up for a high quality final between the U19 teams of the two most successful football clubs in Germany. Irrespective of the result, Borussia's young talents are going on a 48-hour trip to Mallorca on Tuesday. And should they travel to the party island as German champions, all they will need at the hotel is the bathroom to freshen themselves up quickly...
Wilfried Wittke