Four pack: Rijkhoff shoots down Hertha’s U19 – BVB beckons 3rd championship title in a row

Semi-final first leg at A-Juniors

Young striker Julian Rijkhoff has pushed the door wide open for Borussia Dortmund’s next U19 championship. The 18-year-old Dutchman scored all of the goals in the 4-0 victory of the Black and Yellows in the first leg of the semifinals against Hertha BSC, including a flawless hat-trick between the 10th and 17th minutes. Coach Mike Tullberg’s team has the best chance of reaching the final and the third triumph in a row after 2019 and 2022. No champion was crowned in 2020 and 2021 due to the corona pandemic. Against Hertha there was a new edition of the final from last season for Dortmund.

“We played against a clever Dortmund team that was able to effectively use their chances. After the early 0: 3 we showed a reaction and came up with a few opportunities ourselves, ”explained Hertha sports director Benjamin Weber (quoted via “DFB.de”) at “Sky”. In the final, the winner of the second semi-final duel between Mainz 05 and 1. FC Köln has home advantage – the youngsters of the “zero fives” won the first leg 1-0.

Rijkhoff, who scored the most goals (15) in the western division of the A-Junior Bundesliga, had signed a “long-term” contract with the Black and Yellows at the beginning of February. In January 2021, the right-footed player switched from Ajax Amsterdam’s youth team to Dortmund’s U17s for EUR 130,000. “Julian has developed very positively in our youth academy and is an integral part of the Dutch U18 national team. We’re happy to still have a center forward in the squad who consistently scores goals and has excellent prospects,” said Lars Ricken, director of the BVB youth academy, during the official announcement.

10th, 16th, 17th – . pic.twitter.com/I2f2jcLOZa

— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) April 10, 2023

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