No level playing field: Bochum U23 boss Butscher on BVB derby | OneFootball

The two teams are not only neighbors geographically, but also in the standings. When the second teams of Borussia Dortmund and VfL Bochum face off on Saturday (August 23, 2 pm), it's derby time: eleventh place against tenth. "It's a special game," says Bochum's head coach Heiko Butscher (45) with enthusiasm.

Last season, there was still a league between the two opponents. The revived U23 of VfL Bochum dared to make a new start in the Oberliga Westfalen after a nine-year break. In contrast, BVB II started in the 3rd league. The further course is well known: for one, it went up, for the other, it went down. Now they're starting together in the Regionalliga West.

The first four rounds brought Dortmund and Bochum each five points. However, the goals are quite different, emphasizes Butscher in an interview with Reviersport. "We know, of course, that BVB has absolute quality. Just because they now have five points, just like us, doesn't mean it's a duel on equal terms," the 85-time Bundesliga player (Bochum, Freiburg, Frankfurt) is convinced. "I'm sure BVB will be far up soon. They will develop, because there is enormous quality there," the 45-year-old believes.

“How bad the second teams are”

Seven second teams from first and second division teams are participating in the Regionalliga West this season. Not a few officials and fans criticize the reserve teams of professional clubs, saying they distort the competition and have hardly any spectators. Butscher sees it differently: "We've been discussing for months how bad the second teams are. I think we're making good progress and showing that it can be very attractive to play in such a great stadium."

By "great stadium", the VfL coach means the Bochum Ruhrstadion, where the U23 plays its home games. "There's nothing better than such a duel, which was hardly imaginable in recent years," Butscher is convinced. "I'm happy for the players that they can experience such a duel at all."

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.