Hertha Berlin

Some coincidences are too good not to talk about, like the fact that Lucas Tousart scored his first home goal for Hertha exactly a year ago today. The opponents back then were TSG Hoffenheim, who were in the Europa league. 363 days later, the two sides’ paths will cross again under different circumstances, also because the Old Lady will travel to Sinsheim this time. “It will be a very close, hard-fought match, especially because of the situation in the table,” predicted Tousart. “It will be important for us to bring our game and rhythm onto the pitch from the start. We have to have the right answers in our head-to-heads. Picking up three points there would certainly raise our morale!” The Frenchman spoke to herthabsc.com ahead of the match on Saturday (18/3 15:30 CET) about the upcoming meeting in Kraichgau, his personal development and the new setup in Hertha’s midfield.

Sandro Schwarz was forced into two changes from the team that started the draw against 1. FSV Mainz 05 due to injuries. Márton Dárdai (muscular problems) and Marc Kempf (hip problems) were both unavailable, with Agustín Rogel and Maximilian Mittelstädt replacing the two centre-backs in the Blue-White defence. Mittelstädt would play as a wing-back, with Marvin Plattenhardt slotting into the back-three. Former Hertha player John Anthony Brooks started for Hoffenheim.

The disappointment was written across the faces of the Hertha players after the 3-1 defeat to TSG Hoffenheim. “It is obviously annoying, all in all we didn’t deliver a good performance as a team,” explained Martin Plattenhardt and underlined, “We will have to address our errors. We gave the ball away too much and weren’t always there in duels. There are still a few games to go and we all know that we can’t let something like what happened in this game happen to us again,” made the captain absolutely clear. herthabsc.com has all the immediate reaction to the game in Sinsheim.

The first international break of 2023 has arrived, with the qualification campaign for EURO 2024 in Germany getting underway. Five Hertha players have been called up to represent their countries.

Now is an opportunity to take a breather and come back strong as the first international break of the year gives the players time to come together and prepare for the remaining nine Bundesliga games in the 2022/23 season. “The boys are critical of themselves because they know exactly how we have played. The focus now is on improving the feeling in every training session,” explained Sandro Schwarz ahead of the last international break of the season.

Due to the FIFA World Cup at the end of last year, the current Bundesliga season will end abnormally late. There will still be four games in May, the last month of this season. The German Football League (DFL) have announced the exact dates for the final four matchdays of the season, 31 to 34.                                                                            

Jean-Paul Boëtius is well known for his smile and joyful character, but our midfielder suffered a shock at the end of September when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, just a few weeks after Hertha teammate Marco Richter. However, the 28-year-old approached the challenge full of optimism. “I received a lot of messages and loads of support from the club – that was a real help and helped me stay calm throughout,” said Djanga, who recently returned to action. As well as a look back over the past few weeks, our number 10 also speaks to herthabsc.de about the upcoming game against FC Bayern Munich (05/11/22, 15:30 CET). “If we can bring our fighting spirit onto the pitch as a team, we’re hard for any team to beat,” said Boëtius, who discussed his recovery, emotions and excitement ahead of the game against Bayern in his first interview since his diagnosis.

Sandro Schwarz made two changes to his starting eleven for the visit of Germany’s most successful club. Jean-Paul Boëtius started in the place of the injured Stevan Jovetić. Davie Selke also came in for Wilfried Kanga, who having had a stomach bug during the week was only fit enough to make the bench. Prince Boateng also made the bench for the first time since October, while Manuel Neuer celebrated his comeback for the visitors.

Hertha put in a performance full of drive and determination and above all lots of belief in their own chances of getting a result against Bayern in an exciting game on Saturday afternoon.Despite going 3-0 down against the record champions, Hertha came back twice to get within touching distance of a point. “Huge congratulations to the team! We showed once again what you can do with hard work and spirit,” consoled Prince Boateng. The Hertha veteran suggested he and his teammates, “will definitely take the positives with us. The team is working hard and wants to win games – and those who work hard and believe in themselves will be rewarded!” herthabsc.com has the immediate reaction.

Just two days after the post-match press conference following the home game against Bayern, head coach Sandro Schwarz took to the podium once again on Monday, though not at the Olympiastadion, but back in the press room at Hertha’s training facility. The games just keep on coming – on Tuesday (8th November, 20:30 CET), the Old Lady will play their final Bundesliga away game on 2022, as they travel to VfB Stuttgart. “It’s key that we stay patient, but also stay perseverant to keep on going, so we can develop our consistency, determination and patience to win matches,” explained Schwarz on the factors that would his side will need to display to get a result on Tuesday. Herthabsc.com has summarised his key responses, as our coach discussed…