The break is over, the Bundesliga is back! VfL head to the Olympiastadion in Berlin on Friday. Let’s LOOK AHEAD to our game against Hertha BSC:
THE TEAM
Winter turned into summer. No, not weather-wise. But in terms of transfer activity for Hertha. In the capital, there has been a lot going on in terms of personnel in recent days and weeks. Let’s start with the departures. Piatek to Florence, Zeefuik to Blackburn Rovers, Torunarigha to Gent, Jastrzembski to Slask Wroclaw. New additions include Fredrik Björkan, the Norwegian has already made his debut for Hertha in the Bundesliga. From Stuttgart came another defensive addition, Marc-Oliver Kempf strengthens the chain. More offensively at home are the South Korean Dong-Jun Lee and the French youngster Kelian Nsona. The latter, however, will certainly need more time after tearing his cruciate ligament before he becomes a real reinforcement. Whatever the case, the “Old Lady” has new faces. The renewal process continues after the change of coach from Pal Dardai to Tayfun Korkut. Players such as Danny da Costa (Frankfurt) or Lucas Alario (Leverkusen) have also been traded in recent days. Four new players, four departures – must be enough for now. The squad for the remainder of the season is in place.
THE COACH
We have already mentioned Tayfun Korkut. The German-Turkish boss has been in charge in Berlin since the end of November. After a brief spell out of football, he now he has a contract in the capital until the end of the season. Korkut was born in Stuttgart, played with the Kickers in the regional league before his professional career really took off in Turkey. Five years at Fenerbahce, followed by stints at Besiktas and Genclerbirligi. In between, the 43-time international also spent four seasons in Spain, playing for Real Sociedad and Espanyol Barcelona. His coaching career also began in San Sebastian.
THE RECORD
There have been 43 encounters in the Bundesliga so far, with the statistics falling very slightly in our direction. 17 VfL victories, 16 Hertha wins. However, we haven’t really enjoyed the Old Lady in recent years. All five of the previous competitive matches were won by the capital club. In the first leg, Hertha came away with an extremely flattering 1-3 win at Castroper Straße. Serdar scored a brace before the break, and Maolida scored after the break. The interim connection of Zolli changed nothing more in the home defeat. Bitter, with 67 percent possession and 19:6 shots on goal from VfL’s point of view. But that’s football, not always fair. Let’s take another run at it on Friday night and go for our first success in the Olympiastadion since 1995 (Wohlfarth brace).
