Borussia Dortmund's September schedule

LEAGUES): U23 – FC Schalke 04 U23After the U19s and U17s each celebrated 1-0 wins over FC Schalke 04, the U23s are now also set to face their neighbors from the Ruhr region at an early stage of the season. Despite major squad turnover in the summer and a small squad during preseason, the U23s have performed admirably so far. Two unlucky draws in Bochum and against 1. FC Köln (both 1-1), along with two wins in Bergisch Gladbach (3-1) and Hilden (2-0), give reason for optimism ahead of the derby. The Regionalliga match will be a clash between neighboring teams in the table. Fourth-placed Gelsenkirchen sit just ahead of BVB (eight points) with nine points, having played one game more.

At Hamburg's Volksparkstadion, BVB will play their first-round match in this year's DFB-Pokal. The Black and Yellows are clear favorites against Hamburg Oberliga side HEBC and, after a successful Bundesliga opener at home against HSV (2-0), want to build on that with another positive result. More than 40,000 tickets had already been sold recently for the clash between the fifth-tier side and the German runners-up.