Borussia Dortmund II win Regionalliga West title but must wait to confirm promotion

Borussia Dortmund II have won the Regionalliga West title after earning a come from behind 2-1 win against Wuppertaler SV on the final day of the season.

Needing a point to secure the title, the Borussia Dortmund U-23s did not make the best of starts away to Wuppertaler SV on Saturday. The home side looked dangerous early on, and they managed to take the lead in the 34th minute through Kevin Hagemann. Both teams had chances to score in the closing stages of the first half, but we went into the break with Wuppertaler holding a narrow lead.

With second placed Rot-Weiss Essen winning 2-0 in their game, Borussia Dortmund II knew that they needed a second half comeback to win the title. And it did not take them long to get back to level terms. Captain Steffen Tigges stepped up and found the net from a tight angle to make it 1-1 in the 47th minute.

Ansgar Knauff then came off the bench and completed the comeback for the young Black and Yellows in the 88th minute after some good work down the left wing from Dominik Wanner.

The goal helped Enrico Maaßen’s side win the Regionalliga West title, capping off what has been an incredible season. But they must wait before they can celebrate promotion to the third division of German football.

Rot-Weiss Essen have lodged a protest claiming that Borussia Dortmund II had enough players to fulfil their three fixtures that were postponed last month due to two positive COVID-19 cases at the club. Borussia Dortmund had to postpone those games as a number of their players had to be quarantined, and so they did not have enough players available. But Essen feel that their title rivals gained an unfair advantage, and want the results of those three games to be chalked off.

If Essen’s appeal is successful, it is possible that the promotion could be taken away from Borussia Dortmund II. The decision will likely be made in the coming week.

But no matter what the outcome of the appeal is, no one can deny how good this young BVB U-23s team has been this season and how special their achievement is.