Borussia Dortmund's U19s have claimed a convincing 4-0 win over MSV Duisburg and exacted revenge in impressive fashion for their only defeat of the Bundesliga season to date (3-1 in the reverse fixture). Cole Campbell (2), William Rashidi and Paris Brunner scored for the already confirmed West German champions.

"We made a good start to the match but were then too static with our movements and slowed the game down as a result. We spoke about that at the break, performed significantly better in the second period and deserved to win in the end," was the apt analysis from assistant coach Daniel Rios. He was standing in for Mike Tullberg in the dugout, who was watching the top match in the Bundesliga Nord/Nordost in Berlin. Hertha won the clash with VfL Wolfsburg by a 2-0 scoreline and will now go into the season finale five points ahead. The champion will face BVB in the German Championship semi-final.

In addition to the injured Filippo Mané, the Black & Yellows were also without Kjell Wätjen. Tactically, the coaching staff made minor tweaks. William Rashidi was moved forward into midfield in a wide role, while the fit-again Leonardo Posadas defended down the right, Nico Adamczyk and Jaden Korzynietz formed the central defensive partnership and Almugera Kabar interpreted his position as a left wing-back very flexibly. Danylo Krevsun overtook the role of Wätjens, while Charles Herrmann, Paris Brunner and Cole Campbell formed the attacking triumvirate.

As expected, the combative and hard-running Duisburg players proved to be a resilient opponent. The team appeared to be unperturbed by Cole Campbell's early opening goal (4) and put their Borussia counterparts under increasing pressure after the quarter-hour mark. Only towards the end of the first period did BVB rediscover their rhythm. Danylo Krevsun spurned a huge opportunity shortly before half-time when he fired at MSV goalkeeper Fotios Adamidis following a brilliantly initiated counter-attack by Campbell. In the second half, BVB controlled the ball and their opponent with the dominance of a champion.

Semi-final matches on 16 and 20 May

The coach singled out William Rashidi for special praise. "He performed very well and really injected life into the game with his attacking qualities." Rashidi set up the opening goal for Cole Campbell, scored the goal for 2-0 himself with a placed right-footed strike (53) and perfectly teed up Paris Brunner for the goal to make it 3-0 (55). Campbell rounded off the scoring when he converted Danylo Krevsun's cross to make it 4-0 in the 84th minute.

The German Championship semi-final fixtures are now set in stone. BVB are expecting the champions of the Nord/Nordost division for the first leg at 18:30 CEST on Thursday 16 May. The return leg takes place on Whit Monday (20 May). Kick-off is at 10:45 CEST. There are three Bundesliga games before then: away to SC Verl on 28 April, the derby against Schalke on 5 May and away to SC Paderborn on 11 May. (wiwi)

U19s: Lisewski – Posadas (Benkara, 60), Adamczyk, Korzynietz, Kabar – Rashidi (Ubani, 86), Lubach (Diallo, 76), Krevsun – Herrmann (Onofrietti, 60), Brunner, Campbell (Plöger, 86)