U23s relegated from the 3. Liga | OneFootball

The scenario: It was already confirmed prior to kick-off that U23 coach Mike Tullberg's team would need a victory and additionally be reliant on results elsewhere in order to have any hope of surviving in the division. Saarbrücken, meanwhile, were in a three-way battle for the play-off place for promotion to the 2. Bundesliga.

Personnel matters: Tullberg was without 11 players for the final game of the season – including the suspended trio of Franz Roggow, Rodney Elongo-Yombo and Michael Eberwein. Compared to the 1-0 defeat against Stuttgart II last weekend, Yannik Lührs and Danylo Krevsun replaced Roggow and Eberwein respectively in the starting XI. Krevsun pushed into midfield and Antonio Foti moved forward one position on the wing.

The match & analysis: Borussia made a good start. Defensively, the early press across the entire pitch worked. The hosts had major difficulties with it to begin with and misplaced numerous passes, which the Black & Yellows were unable to turn into direct attacks, however. The Dortmund youngsters also did not manage to score a goal from their three corner-kicks.

BVB already had the Ludwigsparkstadion where coach Mike Tullberg wanted it: “We have to play our game and turn the atmosphere in our favour,” the Dane had said in the run-up to the game. The first whistles from the home fans came early on, as the Blue & Blacks struggled. That seemed to wake FCS up. The hosts became overwhelmingly superior around the 24-minute mark. Midfielder Manuel Zeitz had the best chance up until that point when he fired at goal from 16 metres out, but could not open the scoring.

Borussia could no longer get out of their own half and repeatedly had to fend off waves of attacks from Saarbrücken. The Saarland outfit had 10 corners in the first half alone. Only one of them proved dangerous, with Marcel Lotka making a strong save to keep out a header. They were punished for their missed opportunities by Borussia's first chance on goal: Tony Reitz won the ball in defensive midfield, sprinted across half the pitch and then set Julian Hettwer in motion with a through-ball. The forward fired the ball inside the near post to give Borussia a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute.

Hettwer's goal came against the run of play amidst a spell of pressure from the promotion hopefuls. Shortly before the break, everyone in Black & Yellow held their breath as Manuel Zeitz again went clean through on Marcel Lotka and missed the target by centimetres. Borussia had survived the opening 45 minutes, but the pressure from FCS was immense. And the picture did not change after the game got back under way either. The Dortmund defence cleared everything away and when a ball did get through, Marcel Lotka was there to intervene. Forays forward from the visitors were limited. In the 63rd minute, Prince Aning went clean through on the Saarbrücken goal following a counter-attack. But the pass took too long to arrive and the attacker was prevented from finishing at the last moment. The second goal did not materialise, but BVB showed that they could be dangerous at any moment.

As the pressure from the Saarland outfit continued, the players in blue and black became increasingly desperate – but the breakthrough eventually came. In the 67th minute, the ball flew towards Dortmund's goal once again. Lotka initially made the save, then the Dortmund defence cleared the ball on the goal line. From there it fell to Saarbrücken striker Kai Brückner, who scored with a back-flick to equalise and shock the Black & Yellows.

Mike Tullberg tried everything and brought on all the attacking players at his disposal in order to somehow re-establish the lead. Both teams were now showing passion and fighting for every ball. But in the 86th minute, any black and yellow dreams of staying in the league were dashed. Patrick Schmidt, who had just come on as a substitute, was played in by fellow striker Florian Krüger and slotted the ball over the line to give Saarbrücken a 2-1 lead – only 18 seconds after coming off the bench and, much to Borussia's annoyance, from what looked like a clearly offside position.

Goals: 0-1 Hettwer (34), 1-1 Brünker (67), 2-1 Schmidt (86)

Reactions:

Patrick Göbel: “We were extremely courageous today and implemented our plan well for a long time. Then we conceded a goal, which was frustrating. Mike lit a new fire in us and gave us a plan that we are 100% behind. I can say this: I will continue down this path with Borussia.”

Mike Tullberg: “When you see how the boys slogged away here today, I'm not disappointed with our performance. We have 11 players out and I had to take two players off injured, which was perhaps too much in the end. I'm a Borussian and we will build something, bring this team back and continue down our path.”