Almost 35,000 fans celebrated the Borussia Dortmund U19s' successful defence of the A-Juniors Bundesliga title two months ago against FC Bayern, the first time this has ever been achieved in the competition's history.

At the EMKA-RUHR International Cup (3. to 6. August), Europe's largest U19 tournament, champion trainer Benjamin Hoffman's newly assembled team will turn out once again in Dortmund and surroundings. After somewhat patchy results in friendly games up until now, Hoffman expects a clear improvement in performance from his team: "This tournament is an appropriate test of our toughness one week prior to the beginning of the Bundesliga against VfL Bochum. Now we have to quickly find our best formation and our best form."

Overview of the tournament

The participants: Real Madrid's presence gives the competition a royal sheen, making the organiser, the European Association of Youth Activity in Culture and Sport, mightily proud. President Harald Heinze: "We see it as a mark of distinction that we are able to welcome for the second time consecutively the most successful and famous football club in the world, as Real make the most stringent demands when it comes to organisation and events as a whole."

AS Rome, Italy's A-Juniors Champions of 2016, the French U19 Champions AS Monaco, Ferencvaros Budapest (with one time Dortmund man Theo Schneider heading the youth development centre), Austria's traditional club Rapid Vienna, as well as CSKA Moscow representing the host country of the 2018 World Cup, complete the stellar line-up of teams from abroad.

The tournament will also turn into a mini revenge thriller: FC Bayern, who were defeated in the final of the A Juniors Championship, are also present alongside the German champions, as are FC Schalke 04 and B-Juniors finalists Werder Bremen. It isn't possible to fit in any more top domestic talent. 

Opening match against CSKA Moscow

The tournament: The RUHR Cup emerged from the culture capital RUHR.2010. "It is something really quite special that was kept over from the events as part of the culture capital in 2010. I think it represents a fantastic effort and is a sparkling advertisement for the Rhine area that the organisers are repeatedly able to attract world class clubs to gather in Dortmund and environs", said Fritz Pleitgen, the former director of the culture capital.

How the groups are constituted: Borussia Dortmund, AS Rome, Ferencvaros Budapest, CSKA Moskau and Werder Bremen are in group A. Group B is comprised of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Schalke 04, AS Monaco and Rapid Vienna.

Playing locations and fixtures: All the teams will enter the tournament on Thursday, 3. August, from 12:30 CEST in the Dortmund Rote Erde Stadium. The BVB games: 17:00 CEST CSKA Moscow – BVB, 19:30 CEST BVB – Werder Bremen. The group matches will be continued on Friday, 4. August, in Holzwickede (group A, from 16:30 CEST) and Velbert (group B). The placement- und semi-final matches will take place on Saturday, 5. August, from 13:00 CEST in Marl (Stadium am Badeweiher). The third place play-off and the final will take place on Sunday 6. August, from 10:00 CEST in the Rote Erde Stadium.

The stars of tomorrow: The RUHR International Cup has long been a proving ground for Europe's most exciting talents. Scouts and match observers from Germany and abroad will be present. Players such as Kylian Mbappé (Monaco), Renato Sanches (Benfica Lisbon/FC Bayern), Leroy Sané, Sead Kolasinac, Julian Draxler, Mahmoud Dahoud, Julian Brandt, Jonathan Tah, Kerem Demirby, Christian Pulisic, Felix Passlack, Davie Selke or Emre Can have previously made their mark at this tournament.

Supercup: The DFL (German Football League) has invited all participating delegations to the Supercup match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich on Saturday evening in the Signal Iduna Park.
Wilfried Wittke

www.ruhrcupinternational.de