What a drama: almost with the last situation, Hertha gets the final knockout – relegation to the second division. The fans are angry, the players are struggling to keep their composure.
Pal Dardai tried to comfort his devastated professionals, leader Kevin-Prince Boateng struggled for the right words with tears in his eyes – and beer mugs and flagpoles flew from the stands.
Hertha BSC were only seconds away from hoping to remain in the Bundesliga for at least another week. “I can’t realize it yet,” Boateng said on Sky.
“It’s just sad, I love the club. I came here knowing things weren’t going to be rosy,” said the 36-year-old, who captained the team on his fifth start. The native of Berlin had imagined his farewell to his own fans differently. He ends his career in the summer.
When the seventh relegation was confirmed before the end of a turbulent season for the capital club by conceding a goal in the fourth minute of added time to make it 1-1 (0-0) in the basement duel against VfL Bochum, the frustration of the fans also erupted , who had always stood behind the team until then. Boateng emphasized that even if they had played “under all sows” at times. “They’re angry, disappointed and sad – that’s completely normal. I can understand them, I’m a Hertha fan myself,” he said.
Dardai leaves the future open
How your club will continue is questionable in almost every respect. Dardai left open a future as a Hertha coach in the second division. “I can’t say today,” said the Hungarian: “I work at Hertha BSC – in which position, we have to wait and see.”
Internally, Dardai, who took over the coaching position at the capital club for the third time in mid-April, but was unable to prevent relegation this time after two successful rescues in 2015 and 2021, is the preferred candidate for the rebuilding in league two. Because of the precarious economic situation, the club is likely to be restricted in the choice of coach after the inflationary consumption of football teachers in recent years.
And that despite the fact that Lars Windhorst had invested more than 370 million euros in the club in less than four years, but the partnership ended in strife this year.
License for 2nd division not yet secured
Instead, not even the license for the second highest division is safe. The club has until June 7 to meet the requirements of the DFL. The entry of the new investor 777 – and the associated, urgently needed investment of another 100 million euros – will also be thoroughly checked for compliance with the 50+1 rule.
Firecrackers, tears, anger and disappointment – Hertha’s exit hit everyone brutally hard, because in an almost hopeless situation with a win obligation in the last two games of the season, there was suddenly justified hope again. In a highly intense duel, the Berliners took the lead in the 63rd minute through Lucas Tousart.
Against a backdrop made for heroics with 70,692 spectators and blue and white as far as the eye could see, the Dardai side fought back against relegation. Worn by the audience and driven by Boateng in particular. A year ago, the veteran had saved the team from being second-class in the relegation and even proved himself as a starting XI whisperer under the then coach Felix Magath.
Ex-Unioner Schlotterbeck meets to equalize
This time it didn’t work and Boateng saw it first helplessly and then stunned from the sidelines. Dardai had replaced the exhausted driver after the lead. And instead of somehow getting through the very last minutes of an intense game and not getting a goal, Hertha conceded the equalizer in the fourth minute of added time after a corner kick. The fact that it was Keven Schlotterbeck, who once played for Hertha’s capital city rivals 1. FC Union, somehow fit into the painful picture for Hertha fans.
West Berliners could only have saved themselves from relegation on matchday 33 with a win and the support of their rivals. With 26 points as bottom of the table with only one game left, the relegation rank is five points away. “I don’t think Hertha BSC was relegated today,” said Dardai and issued the motto: hard work for the future, work hard to return to the Bundesliga.
Source: Stern
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