In this condition, Hertha BSC is relegated from the Bundesliga. The Berliners suffered a clear defeat against Wolfsburg, who were still happy with the offensive fun.
Niko Kovac remains in goal rush with VfL Wolfsburg and gave his old love Hertha BSC a bad stab in the relegation battle. Only three days after the six-pack against SC Freiburg, the Lower Saxony celebrated the next smashing victory with the 5-0 (3-0) in Berlin and exacerbated the mood of crisis in the frighteningly helpless capital city club.
Mattias Svanberg (4th minute), Maximilian Arnold (31st/penalty), Jonas Wind (34th), Ridle Baku (72nd) and Omar Marmoush (86th) scored the goals in the one-sided game. While Wolfsburg is now on course for the European Cup with ten games without defeat, the desolate Hertha remains in 17th place at the end of the first half of the Bundesliga – a direct relegation zone.
Pack before the derby
In front of 29,483 spectators in the Olympic Stadium, the Berliners suffered their heaviest defeat of the season and conceded five goals for the first time. Coach Sandro Schwarz has to get the blue and whites up quickly by Saturday, otherwise there is a risk of the next humiliation in the derby against 1. FC Union Berlin. Central defender Agustin Rogel, who saw his fifth yellow card against Wolfsburg, is not allowed to be there.
The friendly embrace of the coaches before kick-off was quite intimate. The original Berliner Kovac may have whispered to the current Hertha coach Schwarz that he should please save his “home club”. On this lousy cold evening in the Olympic Stadium, there was a suspicion that this wish would remain an impossible one to fulfil. Schwarz had demanded much more intensity and aggressiveness from his players after the 1:3 disappointment in Bochum. He was offered exactly the opposite from the start.
Svanberg duped the entire Berlin defensive network with a horizontal run through the Hertha penalty area and scored his first Bundesliga goal, which is well worth seeing. Even in Bochum, Schwarz missed an answer to an early deficit. This time what happened at Hertha in terms of coordinated build-up: Nothing! A shot from Suat Serdar (24th) was everything. Dodi Lukebakio – recently suspended and therefore now a beacon of hope simply because of his return – dribbled the ball uncontrollably a little later.
Wolfsburg plays free
Even worse: After Rogel was only able to compensate for his personal speed limit with a rude bump against Patrick Wimmer, Lukebakio fended off the following free kick in the wall quite clumsily with his elbow. Arnold converted the penalty safely. “We want to see you fight,” echoed the ranks. On the grandstand, Hertha’s managing director Fredi Bobic and the still ailing winter signing Florian Niederlechner looked quite contrite. The liberated Wolfsburg showed how easy football can be even at freezing point. Wind quickly added the third goal.
For the second half, Kevin-Prince Boateng swore in his colleagues in front of the substitute bench. That had an effect at first. At least there was fighting now. Hertha now played braver, showed at least one face-saving performance and also benefited from the fact that the mellow Wolfsburg allowed a little more. However, the attack efforts did not have resounding success. Instead, Wolfsburg even followed up twice.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
