Indeed, the forward has played 25 times in all senior competitions this season. Among those appearances he’s scored the winning goal on two occasions – against Real Sociedad and Fulham – as well as scoring another goal and assisting five times.

“I’ve congratulated the lads. You have to take your hat off to them. We’ve managed to reach the last eight for the second time in a row. The club has never managed that, and that makes us proud,” said coach Mike Tullberg, reflecting positively on the Youth League campaign. You simply cannot always win a penalty thriller – as was the case away to Manchester United last year or recently in the round of 16 against Paris Saint-Germain.

The 2022/23 Bundesliga season is well and truly on the final straight. SV Werder’s final home game of the season is on Saturday, 20th May against 1. FC Köln (15:30 CEST), and Ole Werner’s side are looking to make a decisive step towards their pre-season goal of staying up. “It’s getting a bit tense, as it usually does during the run-in. It’s the final few metres of the race which always brings a certain element of tension,” revealed Werner at his pre-match press conference. 

What an award for winger Gerrit Holtmann! The Bochum forward has only gone and won “Goal...

“There’s still a fair way to go,” commented head coach Enrico Maaßen ahead of the penultimate matchday of the campaign. FC Augsburg are set to face the strongest team in the second half of the season in Borussia Dortmund, who are in the thick of a title fight with FC Bayern München: “Dortmund have a lot of individual quality and play with lots of tempo,” Maaßen is aware of the strengths of the upcoming opposition. “However, we’ve been able to trip up lots of good teams already and have a good home record.” 

According to a report captured by Twitter account @iMiaSanMia, Nagelsmann has been fined 50,000 euros for his behavior towards Welz and his team. The 35-year-old will also be able to continue coaching the team in upcoming Bundesliga games because a touchline ban is not included in his punishment. Nags himself thinks that this is a fair verdict and won’t be appealing for a reduction of his fine.

Schmid and Petersen both started as substitutes, and were commemorated ahead of kick-off for their service to the club. Meanwhile, their teammates set up in a 3-4-3 formation, with Roland Sallai and Noah Weißhaupt acting as wing-backs behind Vincenzo Grifo and Ritsu Doan respectively. A hectic opening few minutes saw Maxi Eggestein, Grifo and Lucas Höler make the first attacking forays. The Wolves, who are also fighting for a place in European competition, made one change to the side which started their 2-1 win over Hoffenheim last time out: Yannick Gerhardt replaced Matthias Svanberg.

It’s a national holiday, but not for the Hertha players as they work hard on Thursday for the upcoming meeting with VfL Bochum (20/5, 15:30 CEST) and the chance to keep survival hopes alive. Pál Dárdai and Benjamin Weber were at the press conference ahead of the match. “We have to win for the fans! These last games have a special meaning. Regardless of what happens afterwards, every player’s task is to show respect and work hard,” stressed the head coach ahead of the final home game of the season. Hertha’s sporting director also added emphatically: “Even though we only have a small chance, we want to give our all for it. No one has quit here and giving up is not an option!” herthabsc.com has summarised the most important comments from Dárdai and Weber on…

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