By Roberto Lamprecht and Paul Gorgas
It was probably the last appearance at Bayern Munich for a long time.
Hertha loses 0: 2 at Bayern – and thus the connection to the relegation rank. The tail light is six (!) points behind 16th place. Now, with four games to go, only a football miracle can save the Berliners – direct relegation is becoming more and more likely.
Bitter: Coach Pal Dardai’s team (47) held the 0-0 lead at the record champions for a long time, worked together on the defensive, and keeper Oliver Christensen (24) fended off the few Bayern chances. Dardai: “With a bit of luck we could have taken a point.”
Worried look: Coach Pal Dardai wants to save Hertha from relegation for a third time. But with four games to go, the situation seems hopeless. The Berliners need at least three victories – and thus a football miracle Photo: picture alliance / Eibner press photo
But because the defense was unsorted twice and first let Gnabry (69th minute) and then Coman (79th) run, the Berliners are again without points.
Now the game on Saturday against Stuttgart (3.30 p.m., Sky) will decide Hertha’s fate. The crisis club can only continue to hope for the rescue miracle with a win.
Coach Dardai then swore his team on the pitch immediately after the final whistle: “I said: We’re going to train offensively and throw everything in against Stuttgart. Two or three players said straight away: Then we’ll win.” But a threesome alone isn’t enough.
Dardai expects nine points from the remaining four games to keep the chance of staying up. Goalkeeper Christensen even said to the BZ: “Our attitude must be: four games, four wins.”
And that of all things in the squad that has not even won two games in a row this season and has been without a win for eight games. Does the club really still believe in staying up?
Maximilian Mittelstädt, here in a duel with Bayern’s Serge Gnabry, fights self-sacrificingly like his Hertha colleagues. In the end it doesn’t reach a point again Photo: picture alliance / SvenSimon
One thing is clear: After four years in a permanent relegation battle, Hertha now seems to be due. The endless loop of ever new setbacks, bankruptcies and club quarrels (Windhorst-Aus, Bobic dismissal, constant coach changes) wears down players and fans. Many supporters have already internally resigned themselves to the second division…
But the pros continue to be combative. Maximilian Mittelstädt (26) to the BZ: “It sucks, without a doubt. But while we still have the chance, we have to take it.”
The game against Stuttgart is the very last one Hertha has.