Fussball, Herren, Saison 2022/2023, 1. Bundesliga, Hertha BSC, Training, v. l. Chidera Ejuke Hertha BSC, Dedryck Boyata Hertha BSC, Jean-Paul Boetius Botius, Hertha BSC, Kevin Prince Boateng Hertha BSC, Fredrik Andre Björkan Hertha BSC, Suat Serdar Hertha BSC, 09.08. 2022, *** Football, men, season 2022 2023, 1 Bundesliga, Hertha BSC, training, v l Chidera Ejuke Hertha BSC , Dedryck Boyata Hertha BSC , Jean Paul Boetius Bo tius, Hertha BSC , Kevin Prince Boateng Hertha BSC , Fredrik Andre Björkan Hertha BSC , Suat Serdar Hertha BSC , 09 08 2022, Copyright: xSebastianxRäppold/MatthiasxKochx

On Saturday afternoon, something will happen in the Olympic Stadium that Sandro Schwarz has vehemently resisted in the past few days. Hertha BSC is then caught up again by their own past. But only – and the new coach Schwarz should like that – to say goodbye to her appropriately.

The Berlin Bundesliga soccer club has invited some former employees and officials who have ended their work for Hertha in recent months and who could not be given a proper farewell in the turmoil of the relegation battle: Werner Gegenbauer, for example, the former president, Arne Friedrich, the former sports director, Benjamin Weber, the former junior manager.

The club is now catching up on the initiative of the new president Kay Bernstein this Saturday, at least for those who are not prevented for good reasons.

When the game against Eintracht Frankfurt kicks off at 3.30 p.m., it should ideally only be about the present. After all, it’s complicated enough for Hertha.

The team has two competitive games behind them, both were lost, and now the current Europa League winner and future Champions League participant Eintracht Frankfurt is coming to the Olympic Stadium for the first home game of the season. That is one possible way of looking at things. The other: Hertha BSC is up against last year’s eleventh in the Bundesliga and the current bottom of the table.

The fact that the Frankfurters have sorted themselves at the end of the ranking is mainly due to the fact that only one game has been played and Eintracht has had to deal with FC Bayern. To draw any general conclusions about the condition of the upcoming opponent from the 1: 6 of the SBU in your own stadium would probably be quite naive. “Frankfurt is not the only one who will get under the wheels against Bayern,” says Hertha midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, who himself played for Eintracht for a year.

The respect for the Frankfurters is still great, and not only because Hertha lost the last three home games against Eintracht, quite clearly even: 1: 4, 1: 3, 1: 4. “They have a very broad squad, are of very good quality and defend very compactly,” says coach Schwarz.

He doesn’t necessarily see the fact that Eintracht was still in action in Helsinki on Wednesday, in the European Supercup against Real Madrid, as an advantage. “We’re at the beginning of the season. So the double burden doesn’t play a major role,” says Schwarz.

His colleague Oliver Glasner, Eintracht coach, sounded a little different after the 2-0 defeat against Real. “We would have preferred a different approach because we represented the German Bundesliga today,” he complained. “Now we have to do it in Berlin on Saturday when it’s over 30 degrees.”

Nice try, but nobody at Hertha wants to rely on Eintracht being tired from their business trip to Finland. “It’s becoming routine,” says Kevin-Prince Boateng. “They will arrive at full power on Saturday.”

Hertha also wants to bring this power to the pitch, especially after the rather meager performance last weekend in the derby against Union. Trainer Schwarz liked the reaction in training. His team “showed very good energy,” he said. “We need that on Saturday, too.”

Personally, he has almost free choice. With Jean-Paul Boetius, a new midfielder was added during the week, who – possibly for Boateng – is a candidate for the starting XI. Lucas Tousart is also available again after his ban from relegation has expired. And on offense, Chidera Ejuke and Wilfried Kanga (for Myziane Maolida and Davie Selke) could play from the start for the first time.

For Frankfurt, on the other hand, the first Bundesliga game after and without Filip Kostic is in the Olympic Stadium. “Good for us,” says Boateng. While sports director Fredi Bobic says: “That doesn’t mean that it will be easier for us.” Without Kostic, who Bobic brought to Eintracht during his time in Frankfurt, the team might be more difficult to calculate.

That’s how it is before the game is played. You can see everything that way. Or so. Some also hope that after the highlights at the beginning of the season, the game against Bayern and the Supercup against Real, Eintracht could have difficulties with the gray everyday life called Hertha.

Such speculation is irrelevant for coach Sandro Schwarz. “It’s not important in what mood the people of Frankfurt come here,” he says. “What matters is our mood.”