Teams | April 12, 2013 at 04:44 PM
Round off perfect week
Round off perfect week
On Friday (12.04.13, 18.00 CET) Hertha travels to FC Ingolstadt.
Berlin - The whole Hertha team has had a hectic week to put it mildly. After „Magic Monday“, the day they blew second placed Braunschweig out of the Olympic stadium by beating them 3-0 and open up a four point gap at the top of the Bundesliga 2 table, the capital city side are in action again on Friday (12.04.13, 18.00 CET) as they travel south to take on FC Ingolstadt on matchday 29.
The players have hardly had time to reflect on Monday's success and must now focus on Ingolstadt. Berlin boss Jos Luhukay said at the pre-match press conference: "It is not easy returning to normality after such a super evening, but that is my job. I must perfectly prepare the lads for our next game." In Ingolstadt Hertha take on a side who according to Luhukay: "Were impressive during the opening half fo the season." The Dutchman explained that they are defensively well organised and quick to switch from defence to attack.
Continue good run
The kingpin at the heart of Ingolstadt's defence is former Hertha skipper Andre Mijatovic. Fabian Lustenberger: "Andre is a very good defender, who will do everything to stop us scoring." Mijatovic will have his hands full on Friday night, because Hertha have scored an amazing 54 goals so far this season – the best record in Bundesliga 2: "Ingolstadt will want to perform well but we are on a good run at the moment and improving game by game", reckons Hertha youngster Alfredo Morales.
Morales played so well against Braunschweig as he replaced injured skipper Peter Niemeyer that he will keep his place and start the game in defensive midfield alongside Peer Kluge in Ingolstadt. Either Christoph Janker or Marcel Ndjeng will get the nod on Friday, after regular right back Peter Pekarik tore a hamstring in the dying seconds of the win over Braunschweig. Levan Kobiashvili, Felix Bastians, Ben Sahar, Marvin Knoll, Hany Mukhtar, Shervin Radjabali-Fardi and Philip Sprint have not made the squad. After talking to Kobiashvili, Luhukay has decided to play Fabian Holland at left back.
Hertha BSC the team to beat
The calculators are already out ahead of matchday 29. Hertha could gain promotion as early as next Monday should they beat Ingolstadt and third placed Kaiserslautern drop points. Hertha are not interested in such things just yet. Lustenberger says: "Promotion is a huge thing wherever it happens." Morales grinned as he said: "If I have to I will take promotion sitting on my sofa, but of course would prefer it to be an a stadium." Lustenberger hit the nail on the head when he said: "Everyone expects a clear victory of us so we must approach the game the way we have approached our matches over recent weeks."
Possible line-ups:
Ingolstadt: Özcan – da Costa, Gunesch, Mijatovic, Schäfer – Matip, Leitl – Heller, Korkmaz – Hartmann, Caiuby
Hertha BSC: Kraft – Janker, Lustenberger, Brooks, Holland – Morales, Kluge – Allagui, Ronny, Schulz – Ramos
The players have hardly had time to reflect on Monday's success and must now focus on Ingolstadt. Berlin boss Jos Luhukay said at the pre-match press conference: "It is not easy returning to normality after such a super evening, but that is my job. I must perfectly prepare the lads for our next game." In Ingolstadt Hertha take on a side who according to Luhukay: "Were impressive during the opening half fo the season." The Dutchman explained that they are defensively well organised and quick to switch from defence to attack.
Continue good run
The kingpin at the heart of Ingolstadt's defence is former Hertha skipper Andre Mijatovic. Fabian Lustenberger: "Andre is a very good defender, who will do everything to stop us scoring." Mijatovic will have his hands full on Friday night, because Hertha have scored an amazing 54 goals so far this season – the best record in Bundesliga 2: "Ingolstadt will want to perform well but we are on a good run at the moment and improving game by game", reckons Hertha youngster Alfredo Morales.
Morales played so well against Braunschweig as he replaced injured skipper Peter Niemeyer that he will keep his place and start the game in defensive midfield alongside Peer Kluge in Ingolstadt. Either Christoph Janker or Marcel Ndjeng will get the nod on Friday, after regular right back Peter Pekarik tore a hamstring in the dying seconds of the win over Braunschweig. Levan Kobiashvili, Felix Bastians, Ben Sahar, Marvin Knoll, Hany Mukhtar, Shervin Radjabali-Fardi and Philip Sprint have not made the squad. After talking to Kobiashvili, Luhukay has decided to play Fabian Holland at left back.
Hertha BSC the team to beat
The calculators are already out ahead of matchday 29. Hertha could gain promotion as early as next Monday should they beat Ingolstadt and third placed Kaiserslautern drop points. Hertha are not interested in such things just yet. Lustenberger says: "Promotion is a huge thing wherever it happens." Morales grinned as he said: "If I have to I will take promotion sitting on my sofa, but of course would prefer it to be an a stadium." Lustenberger hit the nail on the head when he said: "Everyone expects a clear victory of us so we must approach the game the way we have approached our matches over recent weeks."
Possible line-ups:
Ingolstadt: Özcan – da Costa, Gunesch, Mijatovic, Schäfer – Matip, Leitl – Heller, Korkmaz – Hartmann, Caiuby
Hertha BSC: Kraft – Janker, Lustenberger, Brooks, Holland – Morales, Kluge – Allagui, Ronny, Schulz – Ramos