Club Haberleri

After joining Eintracht from UD Alzira’s academy last year, the Spanish youngster caught the eye with six goals in eight appearances for the U19s before becoming a key performer in the Eagles’ reinstated U21 side this season.

In contrast to the starting XI that beat Werder Bremen 2-0 last Saturday, Freiburg returned to a four-at-the-back system. Lukas Kübler started at right-back, and Kiliann Sildillia moved to the bench in place of Ritsu Doan. 

SC will play five games in the 15 days left before the mid-season break: four in the Bundesliga and one in the Europa League. “Winning our group has us feeling good, and we can fly to Azerbaijan with peace of mind,” Grifo said ahead of the team’s final group stage match in Baku next Thursday.

The Freiburg coaching team didn’t want to speculate too much over potential tactical changes under Reis. Other things were most important, as SC head coach Christian Streich outlined after the game, “We spoke about mentality and  attitude – and the team showed the right mentality and attitude from the start onwards.”

Making the longest away journey having already won the group

Another contrast was that of the positions of the two sides before kick-off. Whilst SCF had already safely secured their place in the Europa League round of 16 as Group G winners with one game to spare last Thursday, Gurban Gurbanov’s side found themselves playing for second place in the group, fighting against Nantes who faced the already-eliminated Olympiacos at the same time.  

Hertha still have four more Bundesliga games to play in 2022 before they take part in a tournament in Klagenfurt and three further friendlies during the break for the World Cup. It is already known when the Blue and Whites will carry on their Bundesliga campaign: On January 21^st (Saturday 15:30 CET) our lads travel to VfL Bochum. On Thursday, the timings and dates for three further Bundesliga fixtures were released (matchdays 17-19).

Head coach Sandro Schwarz made one change to the starting eleven that played in the home win against Schalke five days ago for the game in Bremen. The team maintained a 4-4-2 shape, with Marco Richter coming in for Chidera Ejuke. After almost a month out, Filip Uremović returned to the squad, as did Derry Scherhant. Márton Dárdai missed out with injury. The hosts’ back five included two former Hertha players in the form of Niklas Stark and Mitchell Weiser.

To concede a late goal is always frustrating, especially when it decides the outcome of the game. The reaction of the players when speaking about the game in the face of a late 1-0 loss against Werder Bremen reflects this. “I’m fuming,” said Marvin Plattenhardt, making his feelings known, “Both teams fought hard and dug in. There weren’t clear chances for either side. Really it should’ve finished 0-0.” Marco Richter was also critical of the way the team played, but was also already looking ahead to the game against Bayern (05.11.22, 15:30 CET). “We were just not good enough, which is down to us. Still, we can’t be down for too long and have to keep our heads up. Then, next week we go again.” herthabsc.com has the initial reaction to the loss in Bremen.

Every year the same questions remains ahead of the clash with Bayern whether it is the hardest or the easiest home game of the season. Whatever the answer, it was clear to see that there was plenty of enthusiasm and anticipation ahead of the game in the Blue-White camp, from the players, coaches and fans. Hertha host Bayern on Saturday (05.11.22, 15:30 CET), in front of a likely sell-out crowd. Sandro Schwarz has already turned his attention to Hertha’s plan of attack for this game after the painfully close 1-0 defeat in Bremen. “We can’t allow ourselves to say: ‘Oh no, now we are up against Bayern!’ We all know the quality that they have. However, we have to focus on ourselves and have the determination on the day to want to win every challenge,” explained Hertha’s head coach. The 44-year-old got stuck straight into his plan to do just that with his players on Monday.