Supporters of the Bundesliga soccer team Hertha BSC are not to be envied at the moment. Not even when they set off for Leipzig late on Saturday morning from the train station in Berlin-Gesundbrunnen, where the old home called “Plumpe” is, on the occasion of a Bundesliga match. Many blue and white scarves and shirts could be seen on the Intercity-Express, and the conductor made fun of it, responding to his empty phrase – “the tickets please!” – to renounce.
“That there are still Hertha fans …” said the inspector, but with so much charm that nobody was angry with him. Or could be. On the contrary. “We are ashamed every week,” replied a Hertha man, who was sitting at a table for four, with a degree of self-irony that was disarming – but also surprising. Didn’t Hertha last two wins in a row, in Bochum and against Fürth? Oh yes, she did. Wasn’t that the pointless start of the season that was forgotten? Yes, he was. Judging by the performance on Saturday in Leipzig, the two threesomes must be classified under the heading of flash in the pan. Because Hertha was lucky that they “only” lost 0: 6 (0: 3) against this ICE called Leipzig. “Wow! I’m a little shocked and need a drink right away,” wrote Hertha investor Lars Windhorst on Facebook.
“Today was a good day for us,” said RB coach Jesse Marsch, whose team had previously lost three out of five games in the league (like Hertha), but now on time for the Champions League duel with Club Bruges ( Tuesday, 9 p.m.). The greatest possible verbal contrast to the American was provided by Hertha’s striker Davie Selke. “That was a shitty day,” said Selke after the game at Sky, before apologizing to the fans and kind of unasked excusatio non petita delivered. “Just don’t start with a coaching discussion. We’re behind the coaching team. Have that weather mortgaged in the square today. We now need the experience from the Pal “, assured Selke.
The Hertha fans sing full of self-irony: “Ooooh, how is that nice?”
It was clear from the start that it would be a difficult afternoon for Hertha. Goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow was lucky that central defender Marton Dardai was still on the spot with his head when he, Schwolow, failed to defend his foot in front of the penalty area so much that the ball landed at Emil Forsberg’s feet (2nd).
What followed afterwards was largely a monologue by the Leipzigers, which inevitably had consequences.
The players from RB Leipzig have reason to dance, the Herthaners don’t.
(Photo: Annegret Hilse / Reuters)
Only: The goals of Christopher Nkunku (16th), Yussuf Poulsen (23rd) and Nordi Mukiele (45th + 2) were one thing. The other was how easily the Leipzigers, who had been converted to four positions – including striker André Silva initially stayed on the bench – came to these goals. They could even allow themselves to be generous with scoring opportunities: Once Nkunku (29th) failed alone in front of Schwolow, then Forsberg again shot at the crossbar (34th), and a goal by Lukas Klostermann was not recognized because of offside.
The keynote did not change even after the break. Nkunku (50th) and Mukiele (53rd) narrowly failed before the Leipzigers were awarded a penalty after a foul by Hertha captain Niklas Stark. Emil Forsberg made it 4-0 (60th). Ten minutes later, Nkunku made the 5: 0 with a direct and worth seeing free kick from 20 meters into the corner; the final score was made by Amadou Haidara (77th), when the fan camps had already started to duel musically. Here the Leipzigers ironically intoned the Hertha anthem, Frank Zander’s “We’re not going home …”; there the Hertha fans replied with self-irony: “Ooooh, how beautiful is that, ooooh, how beautiful is that.” Only the “… you haven’t seen something like that for a long time” then seemed out of place. Because almost everything was reminiscent of the 3rd matchday, or more precisely: the 0: 5 of the Berliners in Munich at FC Bayern.
Teams like Bayern and Leipzig are not as big as Hertha, so Dardai’s line of defense reads on Saturday: “If we’re honest: that’s a tad too much for us, that’s a different category.”
Coach Dardai is gracious to his players, but manager Bobic is served
He was accordingly gracious to his team. “Nobody disappointed me,” he emphasized. “Everyone stood in their room, everyone did their job, I did not see a player who took a walk,” said Dardai, who was also sold to Matheus Cunha, who has now been sold to Atlético Madrid after the bankruptcy in Cologne. Hertha’s manager Fredi Bobic, however, was served. “On the pitch everyone is lagging far behind their demands. We have to apologize to our fans for the performance. I don’t want to see an appearance like that again,” said Dardai’s boss at Sky.
Hertha manager Fredi Bobic is annoyed with his players, but chokes off discussions about coach Pal Dardai.
(Photo: Robert Michael / dpa)
However: Bobic also stifled discussions about Dardai. “We have discussions all the time; you know that when you are in day-to-day business, you depend on the results,” said the manager and urged realism. “Now everything was great for two weeks. Everything was not great either. But now it’s a massive defeat. We don’t have to panic right away, we just have to do our job in peace.”
That is what Dardai is trying to do. When asked about Selke’s words, the coach said: “I can only tell you one thing: I’m very motivated to join the team every day.” He looks after every player like his own son, the team apparently pays back this closeness – see Selke – apparently. “I think I have the team’s trust. But still, this is a difficult situation for all of us,” admitted Dardai. In the coming week, SC Freiburg will be visiting Berlin. “We have the same situation as after the Bayern game. We know the method of building the team again,” said the Hertha coach.