Teams | November 6, 2012 at 03:21 PM
Classic in Kaiserslautern!
Classic in Kaiserslautern!
Hertha have made the long journey south to the famous Betzenberg stadium in Kaiserslautern on matchday 6, where 1.FC Kaiserslautern await them on Saturday afternoon (22.09.12, 13.00 CET).
The top clash of matchday 6 has to be the meeting between Kaiserslautern and Hertha BSC at the tradition-steeped Betzenberg stadium. Things could hardly be any tighter, with the visitors in fifth place on ten points from five games and Lautern a place and a point ahead of the capital city visitors. A win for Berlin boss Jos Luhukay and his men would push them into the promotion places, where many pundits believe they should be.
Hertha can as usual look forward to tremendous support in Kaiserslautern. 1,305 fans have accompanied the team. The travelling faithful will be pleased by the news that Änis Ben-Hatira and Peer Kluge have travelled with the team, but Luhukay will decide shortly before kick off whether either plays a part in his starting line-up. Long-term injured pair Pierre-Michel Lasogga and Shervin R. Fardi (both have had knee ligament surgery), as well as central defender Christoph Janker (adductor) and suspended Georgian veteran Levan Kobiashvili have all stayed in Berlin. On the good news side, Marvin Knoll and Daniel Beichler have resumed light training again, but will not feature in Kaiserslautern.
Positive record against the "Red Devils"
Hertha travel to Lautern brimming with confidence, having won all of their last three league matches. Luhukay expects a performance similar to those over recent weeks. The Dutchman: "We are relishing the game. Both teams have a lot of quality. Lautern are one of the best sides in the league and we expect a duel at eye-level. Minor details will decide between victory and defeat. We go there to win and must make that clear from the off. The large crowd at the Betzenberg should be motivation enough."
A glance at the record books regarding previous meetings reveals that Hertha have the edge on Saturday's hosts. The capital city side has failed only on two occasions in the last ten meetings to leave the pitch empty handed. Gritty defender Maik Franz wants to extend that positive record. He told us: "With all due respect, up to now we have only beaten teams we were expected to beat. But the game in Lautern is a top five clash. Lautern will take the game to us, which means more room to operate for Hertha. If we can remain focused, I have no worries."
Anything but fond memories
For Franz the game reminds him of dark times. On matchday 15 of last season at the Betzenberg he shattered cruciate ligaments in his knee, and was unable to play any part in his sides ensuing (losing) relegation battle. He remembered: "Of course you remember such things. It was a tough day, followed by eight tough months on the sidelines. But I can't just not play because of it."
Franz is not the only Hertha player with bad memories of the Betzenberg: Striker Sandro Wagner was a Lautern player for the second half of last season. He remembers: "I didn't have a good time there. We weren't a team, and I didn't enjoy my time off the pitch either." Sport manager Michael Preetz said of Wagner this week: "Sandro has quickly proved his value to us, and not just through his goals. He is always available up front, is good at shielding the ball and dangerous in front of goal."
Healthy crowd at the "Betze"
Lautern are expecting a crowd of around 30,000 to attend Saturday's game. Hertha won't be unduly worried though, as Wagner pointed out as he said: "It used to be a stadium which visiting teams didn't look forward to playing in. But we must not worry about the large crowd, but far more impose our style on them."
The "Red Devils will by no means play the "shrinking Violets" on Saturday. In Albert Bunjaku, Mo Idrissou and Alexander Baumjohann they have an impressive front line with lots of fire power. Lautern keeper Tobias Sippel was in confident mood as he said this week: "Traditionally visiting teams come here to defend, which means that we can rarely show what we are really capable of. Hertha have quality up front so maybe it will be an end to end clash. Whatever happens, we want to keep all three points here in Kaiserslautern." Fighting talk! Come on Hertha!
Hertha can as usual look forward to tremendous support in Kaiserslautern. 1,305 fans have accompanied the team. The travelling faithful will be pleased by the news that Änis Ben-Hatira and Peer Kluge have travelled with the team, but Luhukay will decide shortly before kick off whether either plays a part in his starting line-up. Long-term injured pair Pierre-Michel Lasogga and Shervin R. Fardi (both have had knee ligament surgery), as well as central defender Christoph Janker (adductor) and suspended Georgian veteran Levan Kobiashvili have all stayed in Berlin. On the good news side, Marvin Knoll and Daniel Beichler have resumed light training again, but will not feature in Kaiserslautern.
Positive record against the "Red Devils"
Hertha travel to Lautern brimming with confidence, having won all of their last three league matches. Luhukay expects a performance similar to those over recent weeks. The Dutchman: "We are relishing the game. Both teams have a lot of quality. Lautern are one of the best sides in the league and we expect a duel at eye-level. Minor details will decide between victory and defeat. We go there to win and must make that clear from the off. The large crowd at the Betzenberg should be motivation enough."
A glance at the record books regarding previous meetings reveals that Hertha have the edge on Saturday's hosts. The capital city side has failed only on two occasions in the last ten meetings to leave the pitch empty handed. Gritty defender Maik Franz wants to extend that positive record. He told us: "With all due respect, up to now we have only beaten teams we were expected to beat. But the game in Lautern is a top five clash. Lautern will take the game to us, which means more room to operate for Hertha. If we can remain focused, I have no worries."
Anything but fond memories
For Franz the game reminds him of dark times. On matchday 15 of last season at the Betzenberg he shattered cruciate ligaments in his knee, and was unable to play any part in his sides ensuing (losing) relegation battle. He remembered: "Of course you remember such things. It was a tough day, followed by eight tough months on the sidelines. But I can't just not play because of it."
Franz is not the only Hertha player with bad memories of the Betzenberg: Striker Sandro Wagner was a Lautern player for the second half of last season. He remembers: "I didn't have a good time there. We weren't a team, and I didn't enjoy my time off the pitch either." Sport manager Michael Preetz said of Wagner this week: "Sandro has quickly proved his value to us, and not just through his goals. He is always available up front, is good at shielding the ball and dangerous in front of goal."
Healthy crowd at the "Betze"
Lautern are expecting a crowd of around 30,000 to attend Saturday's game. Hertha won't be unduly worried though, as Wagner pointed out as he said: "It used to be a stadium which visiting teams didn't look forward to playing in. But we must not worry about the large crowd, but far more impose our style on them."
The "Red Devils will by no means play the "shrinking Violets" on Saturday. In Albert Bunjaku, Mo Idrissou and Alexander Baumjohann they have an impressive front line with lots of fire power. Lautern keeper Tobias Sippel was in confident mood as he said this week: "Traditionally visiting teams come here to defend, which means that we can rarely show what we are really capable of. Hertha have quality up front so maybe it will be an end to end clash. Whatever happens, we want to keep all three points here in Kaiserslautern." Fighting talk! Come on Hertha!