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Krzysztof Piatek on the ground - and Hertha too
Photo: ANNEGRET HILSE / AFP
When winter came to Berlin, that was in early December, Hertha had won the city derby against Union, it was an icy Friday evening, but a moment when everything seemed good for the club.
Now winter has passed, it's spring in Berlin, people dare to go outside again, it's a wonderfully mild Sunday afternoon, and Hertha BSC is sinking into desolation.
In the weeks in between, almost everything went wrong for the Berliners.
The coach has now changed, but Pál Dárdai has not been able to stop the decline in the table so far.
In the 0: 3 (0: 1) against RB Leipzig good approaches were recognizable, but nothing more.
Hertha looked into the abyss as fifteenth in the table, Mainz 05 is pushing up from behind in form, Arminia Bielefeld, who is tied with Hertha, has a catch-up game to play against Werder Bremen, everything does not look good for the capital city.
That doesn't look good at all.
The Berliners with their lofty plans have lost six of the past eight games, and there have been two draws.
"This squad is not geared for the relegation battle", sporting director Arne Friedrich had already mentioned a shortcoming of Hertha before kick-off: Matheus Cunha, Dodi Lukébakio, Krzysztof Piatek, Mattéo Guendouzi, Lucas Tousart - these are all players who were committed to To promote Hertha to the upper regions.
For three weeks now you can also count world champion Sami Khedira, who played against RB for the first time from the start.
His testimony says: He tried hard.
Dárdai already looks kinked
"There's no bit of luck at the moment, it's not easy for the players psychologically after the defeats," said Dárdai, and one might add, neither is it for the coach.
He was called four weeks ago as someone who was supposed to convey a spirit of optimism.
Actually, he can do exactly that, spread a good mood, but after the third home bankruptcy in a row, the coach looks bent.
He has not yet won.
During his earlier time as Hertha coach, Dárdai gained the reputation of being able to stabilize a team defensively, which was definitely noticeable against the Leipzig team.
With the surprising inclusion of the two strong defenders Lukas Klünter and Marton Dárdai, who is also the coach's son, he made it difficult for the guests to play their assault game.
At least that was an improvement over the previous weeks, the result in the end was the same as usual. Zero points for Hertha.
The people of Leipzig were also lucky.
Captain Marcel Sabitzer doesn't hit the ball every weekend as he does now with his 1-0 lead from 30 meters.
The fact that he then referred to the goal as a “can opener” has something slightly humorous about RB Leipzig.
Often one goal is better
What goes wrong at Hertha goes well at RB.
Julian Nagelsmann's team can also afford games in which the team does not shine.
Thanks to the solid to sometimes outstanding defense, which this time also worked without the ailing Dayot Upamecano, in the end you usually have a goal advantage: 1-0 against Bayer, 1-0 against Union, 2-1 against Augsburg, 1-0 against Stuttgart , 1-0 against Hoffenheim, 2-1 against Bielefeld - that's what it often reads this season.
Even against Hertha, RB did not always look like the born top team, the Berliners had won more duels, a better pass rate.
But what use is that if mistakes happen like that of the substitute Guendouzi, who lost the ball before going 2-0 in his own penalty area?
In the front, Cunha and Lukébakio could not use the good opportunities they were given.
The Berlin standards remained completely harmless.
Hertha celebrated their anniversary on Sunday: Against RB there was the 100th Hertha corner in a row without a goal.
Leipzig's victory should satisfy the neutral spectator, if it exists: The team is two points closer to the recently ailing Bayern.
From now on something like title fight is suggested again, you have to wait and see how long it lasts.
And at the other end of the table, Hertha made the relegation battle more exciting.
In addition to Schalke, a second blue-and-white traditional team with completely different demands is now threatened with going into the second class.
There is good news and bad news for Hertha fans.
The good: The team has already played against the top trio of the table, Bayern, Leipzig and Frankfurt.
The bad: Four more clubs from the top eight will follow in the next five games: first Wolfsburg, then Leverkusen, then again Union and Borussia Mönchengladbach.
If things go bad, Hertha is JWU in April.
Janz way down.
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