After the hero role for Ludovit Reis in the first game of the play-offs for promotion/relegation, Hamburger SV failed to complete the promotion job in-house. Hertha BSC won 0-2 in Hamburg and remains in the Bundesliga. HSV will therefore also play at the second level in Germany next season.
After Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen, Hamburger SV also seemed close to a return to the highest football level in Germany. Former FC Groningen player Reis had already secured a 0-1 victory in Berlin. All Hamburger SV had to do to return to the Bundesliga – after its first ever relegation in 2018 – was at least draw at home.
It did not work. Hertha BSC, which has been active at the highest level since the 2011/2012 season, will also play against Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and all those other Bundesliga clubs next season. The club from the German capital, again without Jurgen Ekkelenkamp, had even repaired the damage within four minutes via the Belgian Dedryck Boyata. The score was 1-1 over two games.
In the second half, Hamburger SV finally handed over the Bundesliga return. Where Reis – again a basic customer – was the big man in the first game, it was now Marvin Plattenhardt. After his assist on the 0-1, he took care of the 0-2 after 63 minutes. That score was also the final score and so Hertha BSC, which ended the game with ten men due to a second yellow card from Lucas Tousart, will play in the Bundesliga next season.
This means it is Felix Magath who keeps Hamburger SV out of the Bundesliga. Magath is now the coach of Hertha BSC, but he himself played more than three hundred games for HSV. With that club he won the European Cup 1 and 2 and also became champion three times with the club of which he was the coach between 1995 and 1997.
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