Hamburg (AP) – For Felix Magath, his short era at Hertha BSC ends with the Bundesliga rescue.
“The project is already over,” said the 68-year-old shortly after the 2-0 win in the relegation second leg at Hamburger SV on Sky. “My task was to stay up in the league. That was the case with the final whistle.” Magath’s contract was signed until the end of the season, and the magician is retiring from football.
It is not yet clear who should lead Hertha into better times as a coach in the Bundesliga. One of the candidates is the former Mainz coach Sandro Schwarz, who is currently employed by Dynamo Moscow and has remained in Russia despite the war in Ukraine.
Magath came as a beacon of hope
Magath was brought to Berlin in mid-March by Hertha managing director Fredi Bobic as the last hope – Hertha had slipped to relegation rank 17. Before that, the former master coach of FC Bayern and VfL Wolfsburg had not been present on the Bundesliga stage for almost ten years. Many of his great rescue efforts in the relegation battle, including with Eintracht Frankfurt or VfB Stuttgart, are much longer in the past.
In fact, Magath was once again successful with his methods. The Berliners not only won the first game under Magath against 1899 Hoffenheim (3-0). A bitter derby defeat against Union Berlin (4-1) was followed by victories against direct competitors in the relegation battle of FC Augsburg (1-0) and VfB Stuttgart.