It was 5:22 p.m. and arms were going up in the east corner of the North Stand. Out of sheer desperation, out of unhappiness, out of shame. The news from Stuttgart broke through on smartphones and one or two transistor radios, encouraging hundreds of Berliners to run their hands through their hair in sync.
Hertha were 2-1 down in Dortmund; VfB Stuttgart still scored 2-1 against 1. FC Köln; and that meant in the end: Hertha has to play against the third in the second division in the relegation from Thursday. The opponent will be determined on Sunday.
There were a number of fans who stayed in the curve for a long time. Who had demanded in vain that the team face those fans for whom the club is a purpose in life, and who had shouted an encouraging “Hahohe” to her. In vain. They didn’t come. The shock of the defeat and its consequences was too deep: Hertha is still worried about staying in the first division. And if tears are a yardstick, it will be a Herculean task for those responsible at Hertha to get the team back on its feet. Because there were quite a few players crying on the pitch.
“The boys are down now. Totally exhausted,” says Hertha’s manager Fredi Bobic
The tears were understandable. For the second time within eight days, Hertha, which had been fed up with 374 million euros in investor money over the last three years, gave up the opportunity to ensure that it stayed in the class. It was in their own hands. The old lady still likes the role of drama queen: last week she lost to Mainz, on Saturday she lost in Dortmund by giving up a 1-0 lead (Ishak Belfodil/18th) because initially Erling Haaland, also with a penalty, equalized and substitute Youssoufa Moukoko scored the 1: 2 (84th).
Felix Magath was right: The season is not over for Hertha BSC after the 34th matchday.
(Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa)
“The boys are down now. Totally exhausted,” said Hertha’s manager Fredi Bobic: “We have two games now in which we have to fix it.” The statistics speak for Hertha. The Bundesliga team usually wins against the second division team. But: Ten years ago, Hertha became one of the teams that lost out in the relegation against a second division team – then Fortuna Düsseldorf.
The catastrophe broke out over Hertha in a remarkably bizarre atmosphere. Dortmund went into the game with raised fluffy hair: Roman Bürki, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Axel Witsel, Thomas Meunier, Marin Pongracic and Haaland said goodbye. Above all, the former player, later manager Michael Zorc said goodbye – and was moved to tears when “die Süd” called “Susi” after him.
Hertha was initially not affected. She seemed unaffected at all in a positive sense. You had to look for nervousness with a magnifying glass, Hertha even achieved something like match luck, or more precisely: matchday luck, by playing a somewhat offensive game. Because even before word could circulate in the old Westfalenstadion that VfB Stuttgart had taken the lead against 1. FC Köln (and put Hertha under pressure in the long-distance duel), referee Tobias Stieler in Dortmund pointed to the penalty spot. The hasty correction by the linesman – alleged offside before Zagadou’s foul on Hertha’s Ishak Belfodil – quickly turned out to be a mistake when looking at the monitor. Belfodil came on and converted safely just three minutes after the news of Stuttgart’s 1-0.
The Dortmunders played as if they had heard esoteric yoga music
As a result, Borussia Dortmund earned the shrill whistles that could be heard at half-time. The assistant coach of Hertha BSC, Mark Fotheringham, put in more mileage in the coaching zone than half of the Dortmund team on the pitch. Especially in the “intensive runs” section, the Scot towered over the BVB team. Dortmund played as if they had heard esoteric yoga music before the game – which meant that the Berliners found it easy to keep any attempted attack away from their own goal. It was only in injury time in the first half that it became dangerous for Hertha – due to a dramatically slipped cross from Zagadou. Hertha’s Marcel Lotka ran backwards and caught the ball in extremis, but then smashed his face full force into the left post. It should be a scene with symbolic character.
For Michael Zorc, the outgoing sports director, it was a tearful farewell to Dortmund’s “Süd”.
(Photo: David Indian song/dpa)
Because in the second half, Dortmund got back into the game through a scene that caused understandable excitement in the Hertha camp. Because: In the 66th minute referee Stieler was called back to the screen. After a free kick from the edge of the area, the ball deflected off Hertha midfielder Santiago Ascacíbar and landed on Marvin Plattenhardt’s arm; Stieler said he had no choice but to award the penalty that Haaland converted to the 86th goal in the 89th competitive game for BVB.
Will there really be a relegation duel with HSV, as Magath predicted?
“It’s an insane rule. The ball was deflected and the player can’t react,” said manager Bobic. Coach Magath agreed: “It has nothing to do with sport anymore. Certainly not with football.” But the problem for Hertha was that the 1:2 followed in the 84th minute. Jude Bellingham played a spectacular pass into the path of 17-year-old Moukoko, the ball flew into the goal from the inside of the post to make it 2-1. And it all happened so late that Hertha didn’t have time to wake up from paralysis and give the game a really offensive touch for the first time. Stevan Jovetic, who came on as a late substitute, hit the side netting and encouraged the Hertha fans to cheer, which was suddenly stifled. That’s it. And the only thing left for the Hertha team was to calmly endure the malice that poured over them in the stadium. “Second league, Hertha is there,” chanted the Dortmund fans.
However: Hertha still has 180 minutes to fight back. “Our team presented itself here in Dortmund as a Bundesliga club. That’s why I’m confident. We have a legitimate chance of staying in the league against the third-placed team in the second division,” said Magath. Basically, he himself said when he took office that Hertha had to be relegated. And also tipped that it would go against Hamburger SV, a club where he became a legend. He didn’t want to think about that on Saturday night. But if that happens, “it will be a very difficult game for me personally,” said Magath. And especially for his team.