From the BZ editorial team
Six months ago it was still a Bundesliga duel: on Wednesday, Hertha BSC hosts FSV Mainz 05 in the second round of the DFB Cup in the Berlin Olympic Stadium. Kick-off is at 8:45 p.m.
Follow the game here in the live ticker or on pay TV on Sky or in the stream on WOW.
The hosts from the capital start the game with a win against SC Paderborn (3:1). In the 2nd Bundesliga they are in ninth place. The Bundesliga relegated team actually wants to play for promotion, but to do that they have to slowly get going.
Dardai doesn’t want to rotate much
Coach Pal Dardai (47) emphasizes the importance of the cup game against Mainz: “(…) if the team feels good, I will rotate little. Because every game is very important for us. The best team has to play.” Despite the “05er’s” miserable start to the season, the Hungarian warns that “that’s a bit misleading. It could be that they are last. But the team Mainz has is dynamic and physically robust. There you have everything that goes with it. We know that a good team is coming.”
Little has happened for the guests so far this season. With just three points they are at the bottom of the Bundesliga, and their solid ninth place in the table last season has long been forgotten. Can the DFB Cup create a better atmosphere again? After all, the Rhineland-Palatinate team achieved their only competitive win to date in the first round of the competition. At that time there was a 1-0 win against second division newcomer SV Elversberg.
Mainz coach Bo Svensson (44) also sees an opportunity for his team on the Berlin Cup evening. “That feeling of sitting in the dressing room afterwards with a win can give us a lot. It’s not an easy task in our situation, but we definitely want to get through to the next round,” said the Dane.
Hertha – Mainz live on TV and ticker
The cup game will be broadcast by pay-TV channel Sky. You can watch the game in the stream WOW. It starts on Wednesday at 8:45 p.m.