Chief Executive Officer Hans-Joachim Watzke and Sporting Director Michael Zorc stood beaming and applauding at the entrance to the changing rooms as they congratulated every single one of the exhausted Dortmund youngsters after their 3-2 victory at the AOK Stadium.

"A lovely gesture that shows great respect," beamed coach Benjamin Hoffmann. With the BVB bosses watching on from the stands, the youngsters put themselves in an excellent position ahead of the second leg of the German A-Junior Championship semi-final.

Ricken warns: "It's not over yet!"

Youth Coordinator Lars Ricken deemed it a "brilliant performance" by the U19s, but then warned: "We will have to perform even better in the second leg and be calmer when it comes to creating chances. Wolfsburg are an incredibly strong opponent. There's a reason they went the entire Bundesliga season unbeaten."

Because away goals, which are worth more in European competition, are not used to determine the Final Rounds of the German Championship in the event of a draw over two legs, the Wolves could take the tie to penalties with a 1-0 or a 2-1 victory in Dortmund. "It's a shame that rule doesn't apply here. It basically means that the score is currently 1-0 to us," said Ricken, who believes the Black and Yellows still have "room for improvement". He added: "We can significantly improve our passing quality in the final third. But the team fought paassionately and defended very solidly. Wolfsburg had to work really hard for every single chance they created."

"It's half-time, nothing more and nothing less"

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Coach Benjamin Hoffmann

Benjamin Hoffmann also refuses to accept that the job is done and dusted. "It's half-time, nothing more and nothing less. We will need to keep our exertion and concentration levels high if we are to fulfil our dream of reaching the final," said the coach, who also believes his team are capable of an improved showing in the second leg. "Whenever we didn't charge forward wildly, but played our combination game, Wolfsburg's rearguard came under threat. In the second half we succeeded more and more to implement our game plan. The lads listened well during the half-time break."

WfL boss Thomas Reis has not yet written off his team's chances of making the final and remained composed as he reflected on a first defeat of the season. "Of course the lads are disappointed. We dominated the first 20 minutes, then we lost our flow a bit after the equaliser. But I still think we've got a good chance in the second leg."

It looks set to be a lively battle when the pair meet on Pitch 1 at the Brackel training ground on Monday 15 May (18:30 CET).

In any case, it is Borussia who currently have the upper hand in the tie. Felix Passlack, Dzenis Burnic and Jan Binias now have an outstanding opportunity to become German champions for the fourth year in a row. As do the injured Sahin Kösecik and Patrick Fritsch, who will be cheering their team-mates on from the sidelines.

Wilfried Wittke