Felix Magath suffered a setback in the fight against relegation on his debut with Hertha BSC.
Two weeks after his debut victory with the capital city, which Magath had to accompany from the hotel due to a corona infection, Hertha lost 1: 2 (1: 2) after an overall weak performance at Bayer Leverkusen.
As a result, the Berliners slip to relegation place 17, Leverkusen is on course for the Champions League with their second win in a row.
Lucas Alario (34′) gave Leverkusen the lead with a nice shot into the corner. A little later Karim Bellarabi (40th) followed up. Vladimir Darida (42′) scored the goal before the break.
Felix Magath swears Hertha BSC on the final sprint
Magath used the international break to get the Berliners ready for the final sprint in the Bundesliga at the elegant Klosterpforte hotel in provincial East Westphalia during the week. His players were even “happy” to have been made fit for the relegation battle with the notorious medicine balls and sweaty resistance runs, the grandmaster reported about the drudgery.
Both teams got off to a good start. Maximilian Mittelstädt had the first opportunity for Hertha, who narrowly missed. In return, Mitchel Bakker only hit the side netting. After the lively start, the game calmed down noticeably. Leverkusen had more of the game against deeply staggered Berliners, but hardly found any solutions.
Magath had to react unintentionally for the first time after 16 minutes. Goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow left the field with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Marcel Lotka. The substitute keeper was wide awake and blocked a powerful shot from Karim Bellarabi to the side.
Hertha BSC scores out of nowhere
Bayer also dominated the action in front of 23,557 spectators in the BayArena, a largely conservative Hertha could hardly provide any relief. Alario’s opening goal came logically. Bellarabi followed up a little later with a well-placed low shot.
But Hertha came back out of nowhere: Darida’s goal with a volley before half-time gave rise to hope, which almost in turn clouded Alario from the turmoil. Lotka was there from a short distance. Likewise the hitherto unemployed Bayer captain and goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky on the opposite side against Lucas Tousart.
Leverkusen also dominated the game after the break without creating any significant chances. Patrik Schick celebrated his comeback in the 65th minute after a long injury break (torn muscle fiber in his left calf). But that didn’t make the game any better.