Borussia's U17s will play their final match in the U17 Bundesliga West against Schalke 04 on Saturday (13:00 CEST), but they will most likely have the upcoming semi-finals for the German Championship in the back of their minds. Meanwhile, the U19s visit SC Verl on the third-to-last matchday of the U19 Bundesliga West (Sunday, 11:00 CET).

"It's a mixture of anticipation and tension," is how U17 coach Marco Lehmann describes the current mood in his squad. On the one hand, almost all thoughts revolve around the knock-out matches in the postseason tournament on 1 May (11:00 CET at the Brackel Youth Performance Centre) and 4 May (in Leipzig or Frankfurt), while on the other hand there is big ambition to end the season with a derby win. Because if Bayer Leverkusen drop points away to RW Essen, "we want to be there and celebrate the West German title win,’ says Lehmann. Leverkusen lead the table with 65 points, BVB are second, with 63, but have a significantly better goal difference (+67 to +54).

As runners-up, BVB would face Rasenballsport Leipzig, the champions of the Bundesliga North/Northeast U17 title, in the semi-finals. The West German champions are likely to face Eintracht Frankfurt. The Hessians, who go into the final matchday one point ahead of Bayern Munich, will host Jahn Regensburg, who are tenth in the table, while Bayern will play third-placed VfB Stuttgart. "We'll take it as it comes," assures Lehmann.

Either way, he goes into the most important English week of the 2023/24 season "with a good feeling." He is particularly proud of the fact that "we've only conceded one goal in competitive matches in the 2024 calendar year, and that was a penalty in the 8-1 win over VfB Waltrop. It's impressive how the team has learnt to work with passion against the ball," said the BVB head coach. And in attack, they are scoring goals for fun, with a total of 83 in 25 Bundesliga matches.

With the exception of the injured Nick Cherny and Tyler Meiser, Lehmann can draw on a full complement of players. "We have an incredibly high level in training. Everyone is fighting for a place in the matchday squad and in the team,’ explained Lehmann. Against third-placed Schalke 04, who have celebrated two recent West German championship titles, the aim is to give as many players as possible extended playing time. "We will rotate with a view to Wednesday and make full use of our substitution quota," said Lehmann.

Matchday 26 also marks the end of the history of the U17 Bundesliga, which was established in 2007 and will be replaced by the U17 DFB Youth League in the coming season. Borussia Dortmund has significantly shaped the history of this competition. No club has celebrated more league wins (six to date) and German championships (three). In addition, BVB finished top of the all-time table in the western division by a large margin.

The best in the west travel to SC Verl

Unlike the U17s, Borussia's U19s still have three Bundesliga matches to play before their first semi-final match for the German Championship - presumably against Hertha BSC Berlin - on Thursday, 19 May. On Sunday, the west league-title winners will travel to SC Verl. Mike Tullberg will use the opportunity to "try out one or two things" in terms of tactics and personnel. On Sunday, 5 May (11:00 CEST), the team will face FC Schalke 04, who still have a good chance of qualifying for the final round of the German Championship as runners-up. (wiwi)