U19s pull off minor miracle

At half-time few would have backed the Black and Yellows, who had been hoping to capitalise on Legia Warsaw's 2-0 victory over Sporting Lisbon earlier that afternoon. As well as having to play with ten men following Orel Mangala's 27th-minute dismissal, Borussia had been largely outplayed by the Spaniards, but thanks to a combative and tactically astute second-half display the team managed to avoid a seemingly inevitable exit from Europe's premier youth competition. "The lads had a real shake-up and reshuffle at the break. Their reaction was excellent," beamed Hoffmann.

BVB's rearguard held firm until the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time, when yet another misplaced pass allowed Real to take the lead. Madrid had previously spurned the better chances or failed to beat the excellent Eike Bansen in the Dortmund goal, but this time Llario took full advantage to break the deadlock. It was proving a frustrating evening for BVB, who had Felix Passlack at their disposal but had to completely reshape the back four. The young first-teamer lined up at right-back, while Tim Sechelmann replaced the injured Amos Pieper in the centre.

Yet these changes did not serve to explain BVB's highly modest performance, which was characterised by lapses in concentration, misunderstandings and deficiencies in their play. But while the statistics at the interval read 13 shots to one in Real's favour, the few fans in attendance saw a very different match in the second half. Hoffmann had made slight tweaks in terms of tactics and personnel, bringing on Alexander Laukart to replace Gabriel Kyeremateng in the centre of midfield and using Etienne Amenyido as the focal [point of the attack.

Janno Baxmann took matters into his own hands in the 51st minute, receiving the ball from Passlack and firing an equaliser past Luca Zidane in the Real goal. The Black and Yellows, whose positioning and defensive focus looked much improve, began to get into their stride and caused one problem after another for the Spaniards. The referee waved away the penalty claims that followed a foul on Baxmann in the box (55), before finally pointing to the spot in the 65th minute when Luca Zidane brought down Amenyido as the striker bore down on goal. Dzenis Burnic might have spurned the resulting kick, which lacked placement and was saved by the Real custodian, but Amenyido was lightning quick to react and slotted the rebound home to make it 2-1.

Borussia subsequently grew into the game even more and repeatedly threatened, completing the upset in the 82nd minute when David Kopacz, who had only just replaced Baxmann, left Real shot-stopper Zidane with no chance after being set up excellently by Amenyido. "It's incredible, but it's the reward for a great performance in the second half," declared a jubilant Benjamin Hoffmann.

BVB: Bansen – Passlack, Kilian, Sechelmann, Beste – Burnic, Mangala – Baxmann (Kopacz, 82), Kyeremateng (Kaukart, 46), Larsen – Amenyido (Wanner, 90).
Wilfried Wittke