Borussia's U19s will commence a three-week Bundesliga break after their match away to SC Verl on Saturday (11:00 CET). In the B-Junior Bundesliga, BVB will go up against 1. FC Cologne in the top match of the weekend (Saturday at 11:00 CET, Brackel youth performance centre).

"We have won the opening three matches and played decent football. We want to continue this run in Verl. And with our quality, we should manage that," explained U19 head coach Mike Tullberg. He is expecting tough resistance from the newly promoted outfit from the Westfalenliga – as was the case 14 days ago against VfB Hilfen, when the hosts were additionally spurred on by 1,000 spectators. "Verl are unbelievably hard working off the ball and will try to surprise us with counter-attacks. In addition, we will need to adapt to difficult pitch conditions."

The squad remains largely unchanged. Shortly before the transfer window closed, Noah Mrosek left BVB. "It was an emotional departure, because Noah had been at BVB for some time. We wish him all the best for his future career," said Tullberg.

This Tuesday (6 September) will see the U19s kick off their UEFA Youth League group campaign with a game against FC Copenhagen (kick-off 14:00 CET, Brackel youth performance centre). That will be followed by the first round of the DFB-Pokal away to Nord/Nordost-Bundesliga outfit Energie Cottbus on Saturday (10 September), before another UEFA Youth League match away to Manchester City four days later. The next Bundesliga opponents will be promoted Bonner SC on Saturday 3 October (13:00 CET).

Alex Niziolek back in the squad

The U17s will kick off Matchday 4 of the Bundesliga with a repeat of the 2019 German B Junior Championship final. "It'll be a good and highly interesting match," said coach Karsten Gorges as he looked ahead to the match against 1. FC Cologne on Saturday with a feeling of suspense but also great anticipation. BVB have made a perfect start to the season and cemented themselves at the top of the table with three clear wins. "There are still several things to improve, but we're going into the match with great confidence," commented Karsten Gorges.

There will only be one personnel change compared to the 3-0 win in Duisburg, with Alex Niziolek returning to the squad. Tyler Meiser must sit out one last time, after the suspension imposed for his sending-off against Bochum was reduced by one game. (wiwi)