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Match Report

U19 Stay on Track Against Betis in Round of 32

Borussia Dortmund’s U19 team kept their hopes alive of qualifying for the Round of 32 in the UEFA Youth League with a 2-2 draw against Real Betis. Felix Hirschnagl’s team currently sits in tenth place in the standings with seven points. In a high-quality match—especially in the first half—BVB took the lead twice on goals by Justin Hoy and Bjarki Gardarsson. The Spaniards, who played strongly, responded each time with an equalizer.

Lineup

Coach Felix Hirschnagl fielded a starting lineup with eight changes from the 2-1 win against MSV Duisburg. Levin Vogt, Justin Hoy, and Ahmad Najdi retained their spots. Young pro Kaua Prates made his debut in the UEFA Youth League. Luca Reggiani and Enzo dos Santos, along with U23 players Aaron Held and Fadi Zarqelain, bolstered the young BVB team. 

Match Summary

From the opening whistle, the match unfolded as a highly entertaining, fast-paced, and intense contest. Borussia immediately took the initiative and celebrated a 1-0 lead after five minutes thanks to Justin Hoy, who calmly finished off a pass from Levin Vogt. The Black and Yellows put pressure on their opponents with high pressing, forcing them into mistakes and coming very close to a second goal. Bjarki Gardarsson fired the ball just wide of the left post (8th minute), and Betis goalkeeper Yan Zhuravskyi saved a shot from the agile Hoy (11th minute). 

Sevilla’s equalizer, coming less than 60 seconds later, seemed to come out of nowhere. BVB’s defense was sloppy, allowing a cross from Mario Navarro on the left side of the defense and losing sight of Spain’s U19 national team player Ruben De Sa, who slotted the ball into the net to make it 1–1. Dortmund’s response came quickly: First, Hoy hit the crossbar with a 16-meter shot, then Bjarki Gardarsson scored the well-deserved 2–1 goal off an assist from Hoy. This was preceded by energetic and successful counter-pressing in midfield.  

Inline Image

The wild ride continued. After an unfortunate collision between Kaua Prates and Fadi Zarqelain, Navarro went down in the penalty area, and the referee awarded a penalty kick without hesitation. But goalkeeper Aaron Held saved the penalty kick taken by Ricardo Funez (27th minute). Sevilla had the upper hand during this phase, forcing the Borussians onto the defensive and, as a result, equalizing 2–2 in the 36th minute through Fran Batan.

The second half was less eventful. BVB ceded possession and control of the game to the visitors. Despite their apparent superiority, Betis struggled to create chances because the Black and Yellows defended attentively. The best opportunity fell to substitute Kingsley Gonzales, who hit the crossbar after a solo run (72'). In the closing stages, Aaron Held saved the point. Dortmund’s outstanding goalkeeper made brilliant saves against Gonzales (76th minute) and De Sa (85th minute). The Borussians were unable to turn the game in their favor or create any real threats in the second half.

Post-match comments

Coach Felix Hirschnagl: “That was a hard-earned point that we’re happy to take. I really liked a lot of what we did in the first half, but unfortunately we let our advantages slip away too quickly. We could have pulled ahead to 2–0 early on. In terms of our play, the second half wasn’t quite what we had in mind. We definitely want to step it up there.”

Outlook

Action continues Saturday in Group H of the DFB Youth League preliminary round. BVB, still undefeated and leading the standings, hosts VfL Osnabrück (1:00 p.m.). The next opponent in the UEFA Youth League is Arsenal FC (Nov. 24, 2:00 p.m.).

U19: Held – Vogt (88. König), Reggiani, Ritter, Prates (58. Adje) – Fahrenhorst, dos Santos (63. Goldberg), Hoy – Najdi (58. Faust), Gardarsson (88. Mohamadou), Zarqelain
(wiwi)

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