‚A heated game in cold Berlin‘

Hertha remains the undisputed top favourite in the league. Along with Hannover, they boast the strongest squad in terms of individual talent. Hertha, along with us, is the most in-form team in the league, having earned 19 points from their last ten matches. While they started the second half of the season with two draws, they were clearly the better team in both games – especially in their home match against Schalke. They were also very dominant at the end of the second half in Karlsruhe. We’re facing a team with a lot of attacking quality. Overall, their squad possesses incredible quality. They have players who really shouldn’t be playing in the second division – like Reese, Cuisance, and Kownacki. Compared to the first leg, they also have Seguin, who provides a real rhythm on the pitch. And Dardai is the most technically gifted centre-back in the league. Defensively, they’ve lost their most aggressive defender with Zefuuik suspended, but they are still very well-coordinated and press with a clear system.

We can certainly look forward to a top-class match. Hertha is an opponent we’ve studied very intensively, and we had to. They’ve certainly done the same for us. We can cause them problems with our style of play. Therefore, I’m looking forward to a top-class match. And top matches are usually decided by the smallest of margins. So we’re very focused and looking forward to a heated game in cold Berlin.

The mood in the team – and this is how I see it – is basically the same as it has been all season. We were happy about the win and the performance against Nürnberg. On Wednesday, we analysed the Nürnberg game, focusing on what we can learn from it. Then, at the beginning of the week, we had some really excellent, high-intensity, and very sharp training sessions. So, our focus immediately shifted back to the next game. We’re confident, focused, and really eager. These are generally good conditions. We’re concentrating solely on Berlin and nothing else. We’re concentrating on our actions, what we want to do, and how we want to do it. That’s an important attitude. It’s about never losing your head, even if you concede a goal. It’s about staying grounded and concentrating on what you’re doing. And that’s exactly what the lads are doing.

Fabian Holland and Fabian Nürnberger are both options for the starting eleven again. Niklas Schmidt completed a very intensive training session on Wednesday without any problems; the intensity was roughly equivalent to 60 to 70 minutes of a match. Therefore, based purely on his fitness level, he would certainly be an option to start for around 60 minutes. We’re talking about the positions he can play, but also about key players. Everyone who plays in his positions is that extra bit sharper because they know someone has joined the team who can also play there very well. For a coach, that’s a fantastic situation.

From the very beginning of this transfer window, we said that after Meldin Dreskovic’s departure, we wanted to bring in someone for the centre-back position – a player with potential for development. I can say that we’ve made significant progress in our search.