Friedhelm Funkel commented on the relegation showdown between Hertha BSC, who have to compete at Borussia Dortmund, and VfB Stuttgart, who are challenged at home against 1. FC Köln. The long-time Bundesliga coach has the feeling that BVB could spit the Berliners in the soup.
Actually, Hertha BSC was already saved, at least that’s how it looked before the 33rd match day against Mainz 05. A win against FSV seemed just a formality, the planned celebration after the game should finally reconcile the fans with the team. But things turned out differently. With a 2-1 defeat behind them, weak Berliners left the field with their heads hanging and now have to worry again on the last day of the game.
Although Hertha is in 15th place with 33 points, the table is better than the competition in the fight for relegation from VfB Stuttgart (16th place, 30 points). But the tasks in the respective last games and the bad goal difference (-33 to -19 for the Swabians) could be fatal for the Berliners. At least that’s what Bundesliga expert Friedhelm Funkel believes.
“I’ve experienced that often enough as a coach in the relegation battle: a team thinks it’s through, and then experiences a violent blow to the neck,” said Funkel, who was Hertha coach himself between 2009 and 2010, in the “kicker “Towards the capital.
Hertha has to “drill a really big plank” against BVB
Felix Magath had “achieved a lot, that was clearly visible on the pitch in the previous weeks,” explained the 68-year-old. The bankruptcy against Mainz is “not so easy to shake out of your clothes”.
Funkel was therefore concerned about the 34th matchday and the “aftermath” that the defeat against FSV could have. In Dortmund, Hertha “have a very tough job to drill […]even if it’s not about anything anymore for BVB”.
Funkel expects Borussia to go full throttle again in the last home game and in the last game with Erling Haaland. “And if BVB gets rolling, we know that, then it can hardly be stopped,” predicted the former coach.
VfB Stuttgart, on the other hand, experienced an “enormous boost” with the unexpected 2-2 draw at Bayern on matchday 33. “If the squad has their nerves under control, then they will pull it off in the end and just surpass the Berliners,” Funkel believes in a win against 1. FC Köln.