Teams | February 25, 2013 at 12:50 PM
Top three action in Berlin
Top three action in Berlin
Hertha BSC entertain third placed 1. FC Kaiserslautern on Monday evening (25.02.13) on Bundesliga matchday 23.
Berlin - The mouths are getting a little dryer, while the palms of Hertha fans are starting to sweat a bit. The reason for that is the Bundesliga 2 matchday 23 visit of top 3 side Kaiserslautern to the Olympic stadium in the nation's capital on Monday night (25.02.13). The game will be broadcast live on the German TV channel Sport 1. That is not expected to affect the attendance for the game. Hertha expect a huge crowd to attend the game including several thousand from Lautern. After leaders Eintracht Braunschweig lost 1-2 at home to 1860 München on Sunday, a win for the capital city side would see them go top of the table and at the same time extend their lead over Lautern to a massive 13 points. No extra motivation needed for the Berliners then.
"The game is on the level of one from the top flight", Hertha boss Jos Luhukay said this week. When asked by the media this if a victory on Monday night would more or less seal Hertha's path to top flight football next season, the Dutchman was quick to quash such ideas. He explained at the pre-match press conference in Berlin: "Nothing will count before matchday 30, because with the three points per game rule things can change very quickly. Manager Michael Preetz added: "We all know how football works, so we must remain focused even if we do manage to win."
Hoping for an attacking Lautern side
The fact that a draw would suffice to maintain the points advantage over Lautern is not something on the mind of midfielder Peer Kluge, who told us: "Playing for a draw is not the we approach games. We want to play well going forward and win the game." Kluge returns to the team after suspension. Luhukay has a full strength squad to pick his starting eleven from, with the exception of Czech defender Roman Hubnic who is ruled out with a bout of flu. The fight for first team places is so fierce that the likes of (amongst others) Ben-Hatira, Mukhtar, Allagui, Janker, Sahar and Bastians have not made the squad.
Hertha are not just looking forward to the game because of where they are in the table. They are far more hoping that Lautern will play their usual game of taking the game to their opponents: "It is always nicer when opponents try to match you instead of playing with a massed defence"; knows Marcel Ndjeng - winning goal scorer in Aalen last week. His coach added: "When your opponent is also trying to get forward there is more space in midfield which livens a game up. " Luhukay who usually underlines the importance of operating from a tight defence said: "I won't mind if it is an end to end game. As long as we score more and concede less than they do." Stating the obvious or what!
Kaiserslautern keen to shorten gap
The team from the legendary Betzenberg stadium are in confident mood ahead of the top three summit in Berlin. They will be keen not to lose sight of Hertha and Braunschweig above them in the table. Former Hertha man Benjamin Köhler now plays for Monday's visitors and says: "We have it in our own hands to finish third, we cannot influence anything else." Lautern Boss Franco Foda is without top scorer Mohamadou Idrissou (10 goals), who was sent off against Duisburg last time out for a second bookable offence and misses the trip to Berlin suspended. Lautern have yet to lose in 2013 (two wins and a draw). They have also yet to concede a goal this year. Luhukay does not worry about such things at all. He told the media: "We are not worried. After all many other teams have played us with such unbeaten records and we ended them."
It is not yet known whether Lautern will play with one or two men up front on Monday night. Luhukay again: "We are ready for whatever system they decide to use." Such are the words of a man comfortable in the knowledge that his side could extend their superb unbeaten run to 21 games should they beat Lautern. We can't wait. See you all there.
Come on Hertha!
Possible line-ups:
Hertha BSC: Kraft – Pekarik, Lustenberger, Brooks, Holland – Niemeyer, Kluge – Ndjeng, Ronny, Knoll – Ramos
Kaiserslautern: Sippel - Dick, Torrejon, Heintz, Löwe - Köhler, Karl, Weiser, Baumjohann - Bunjaku - Hoffer
"The game is on the level of one from the top flight", Hertha boss Jos Luhukay said this week. When asked by the media this if a victory on Monday night would more or less seal Hertha's path to top flight football next season, the Dutchman was quick to quash such ideas. He explained at the pre-match press conference in Berlin: "Nothing will count before matchday 30, because with the three points per game rule things can change very quickly. Manager Michael Preetz added: "We all know how football works, so we must remain focused even if we do manage to win."
Hoping for an attacking Lautern side
The fact that a draw would suffice to maintain the points advantage over Lautern is not something on the mind of midfielder Peer Kluge, who told us: "Playing for a draw is not the we approach games. We want to play well going forward and win the game." Kluge returns to the team after suspension. Luhukay has a full strength squad to pick his starting eleven from, with the exception of Czech defender Roman Hubnic who is ruled out with a bout of flu. The fight for first team places is so fierce that the likes of (amongst others) Ben-Hatira, Mukhtar, Allagui, Janker, Sahar and Bastians have not made the squad.
Hertha are not just looking forward to the game because of where they are in the table. They are far more hoping that Lautern will play their usual game of taking the game to their opponents: "It is always nicer when opponents try to match you instead of playing with a massed defence"; knows Marcel Ndjeng - winning goal scorer in Aalen last week. His coach added: "When your opponent is also trying to get forward there is more space in midfield which livens a game up. " Luhukay who usually underlines the importance of operating from a tight defence said: "I won't mind if it is an end to end game. As long as we score more and concede less than they do." Stating the obvious or what!
Kaiserslautern keen to shorten gap
The team from the legendary Betzenberg stadium are in confident mood ahead of the top three summit in Berlin. They will be keen not to lose sight of Hertha and Braunschweig above them in the table. Former Hertha man Benjamin Köhler now plays for Monday's visitors and says: "We have it in our own hands to finish third, we cannot influence anything else." Lautern Boss Franco Foda is without top scorer Mohamadou Idrissou (10 goals), who was sent off against Duisburg last time out for a second bookable offence and misses the trip to Berlin suspended. Lautern have yet to lose in 2013 (two wins and a draw). They have also yet to concede a goal this year. Luhukay does not worry about such things at all. He told the media: "We are not worried. After all many other teams have played us with such unbeaten records and we ended them."
It is not yet known whether Lautern will play with one or two men up front on Monday night. Luhukay again: "We are ready for whatever system they decide to use." Such are the words of a man comfortable in the knowledge that his side could extend their superb unbeaten run to 21 games should they beat Lautern. We can't wait. See you all there.
Come on Hertha!
Possible line-ups:
Hertha BSC: Kraft – Pekarik, Lustenberger, Brooks, Holland – Niemeyer, Kluge – Ndjeng, Ronny, Knoll – Ramos
Kaiserslautern: Sippel - Dick, Torrejon, Heintz, Löwe - Köhler, Karl, Weiser, Baumjohann - Bunjaku - Hoffer