Sometimes you can tell the atmosphere that prevails in a team, even in small details. On Wednesday evening, for example, in the so-called pack formation, which relaxed in the final phase of the quarter-finals game between RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund after a dispute between RB professional Dominik Szoboszlai and his Dortmund colleague Donyell Malen. “When the pack was formed, you saw that everyone was there! Everyone wanted to stand in for the other!” said RB national player Benjamin Henrichs.
Perhaps unknowingly, Henrichs was referring to a similar scene that had taken place in the game against Mainz. There he himself came to the aid of Dani Olmo when he needed assistance during a scuffle, while Timo Werner, who was closest to the scene, put his hands on his hips impassively.
The fact that everyone at RB is now “there” for the other happens at a good time. At least if you consider that Henrichs, 26, has just earned support himself.
On the night of Thursday, the DFB defender made in a social network some “DMs” publicly, which he had received after the 2-0 win against Dortmund – messages addressed directly to him. “What’s up?” Henrichs asked in a 40-second short video on his own cell phone, and then lined up a few of these messages: “Have fun.”
He did so ironically and calmly, and with no discernible bitterness or anger flowing from his lips – although the insult included personal insults, racist and anti-Semitic insults and hateful remarks. They were not only directed against himself, but also (or mainly) against his mother, who was born in Ghana.
His employer, RB Leipzig, which is hated by many fans, was also the target of hostilities. Just to document the attacks that could most likely fall under the rubric of adult: A “Robin” threatened Henrichs that he would find him and his family, another called Henrichs a “bastard”, a third user described him as a “fat Jew” who will hopefully be “gassed” along with his family.
The Internet image that Henrichs posted showed that the latter apparently also had no objection to contacting Henrichs directly via video call. Which at least also documents how safe a Nazi thinks he feels in 2023.