“We had to win, we wanted to win and we won!”

The relief of those in blue and white inside the Olympaiastadion was clear for all to see and was shown in celebrations of fans and players alike at full time. The 2-0 win against 1. FC Köln meant not only an uplifting end to the double game week, but also a positive end to the year overall for the ‘Old Lady’. “We knew what was in front of us and were well prepared for it. We had to win, we wanted to win and we won!” emphasised Marco Richter, the scorer of Hertha’s second goal, in the mixed zone. “We were able to end the year on a high with a home win and were able to celebrate in front of the Kurve once again – it is a nice end to a very exciting year, for the fans as well,” underlined Hertha’s number 23. herthabsc.com has the initial reaction at the Olympiastadion.

Jean-Paul Boëtius: We finally got our just rewards, which I am very pleased about! It was very important that we scored twice and didn’t concede. The lead gave us a good feeling. We fought the whole game and were difficult to play against. As a result it was a deserved win. It was clear to us how important this game was. We said before the game that once again we wanted to give absolutely everything, especially for the fans. This makes it even better that we were able to get the three points for them. 15 games, 14 points – we want more. Now we can go through the game up till now once again and work on our strengths before we carry on in the new year.

Marco Richter: We were able to end the year on a high with a home win and were able to celebrate in front of the Kurve once again – it is a nice end to a very exciting year, for the fans as well. To get a win together is extremely important. Desire was very decisive in this game. We knew what was in front of us and were well prepared for it. We had to win, we wanted to win and we won! You saw that in every stage of the game. Before the game we want to block everything out and focus on ourselves, which we managed to do and now we go into the winter break out of the relegation places. In January we will start all over again and want to collect more points then!

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The fans made it easy for us and supported us from the first minute. It is a great feeling to give them something back
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–Oliver Christensen

Oliver Christensen: Before the game we set out to give everything. The fans made it easy for us and supported us from the first minute. It is a great feeling to give them something back. To get a win from this game was so important for us. Now we go into the winter break feeling good, but we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves, because there are still some things to improve. Too often in the last few minutes of games we have dropped points despite having played well –we were lacking consistency. If we keep working on that, we will get even more wins next year.

Maximilian Mittelstädt: We defended really well, were effective up top and got our rewards – it was a positive end to the year. We have to keep going with this energy and positive mindset next year and clear our minds before then. These past weeks and months have been an intense time. We know that we have individual quality and are a good team. So, we can only look at ourselves and if we are able to put in more performances like this, then we will also be rewarded more often in the future. For me personally, it was not easy to come on so suddenly and without time to warm-up, but especially in the second half I was able to help the team – which I am pleased about.