Not about 'ifs, whens and buts'

Football is a results business. Despite performing well for long periods of the game in Bilbao, Hertha exited the Europa League on Thursday with one Matchday left in Group J.

Bilbao/Berlin – It’s the scores on the doors at full time that matter in football. That was the conclusion drawn by Pal Dardai last night after he watched his Hertha side throw away a 2-1 lead in the second half to lose 3-2 against Athletic Club in Bilbao. “Looking at how we played, we deserved the draw. But football is not about ifs, whens and buts. And without those ifs, whens and buts Hertha didn’t just lose on the night, but also saw their chances of reaching the knockout stages go out of the window as well.

(Almost) everything went to plan

It all started so well, with Hertha dominate in their final away day oft he group stages, and had Mathew Leckie, Davie Selke or Fabian Lustenberger taken early chances then this one could have been so much different. The deserved lead came through Leckie, who celebrated his return to the side by heading home Maxi Mittelstädt’s cross midway through the first half. “We started so well and totally deserved to open the scoring,” said the youngster. Dardai admitted that the gameplan worked 100%, even when Sebastian Langkamp was seen to have fouled a home player in the box, leading to Artiz Aduriz’s equaliser from the spot. Hertha’s reply was instant and superb. Lazaro left his man for dead down the right and beautifully chipped the ball across for Davie Selke to head those in dark blue straight back into the lead.

Role reversal in second half

There was no question Hertha deserved their lead at half time. Purposeful, positive and pacey in attack, it was almost impossible to tell that this was a side who had won just two away games in all competitions in the last 12 months. But that team re-emerged again after the break, and from the outset it looked like it would be a long 45 minutes in Bilbao. “We were lacking something in the second half. We did not seem to know how to deal with their attacks,” conceded Dardai. The lead lasted until the 66th minute, when Langkamp was harshly deemed to have deliberately handled a cross from the right, and Aduriy converted his second penalty of the night to level things up again.

Langkamp accepted blame, saying: “I am so sorry. Even if I felt the first was a bit unfortunate, the second one is completely on me. A defender’s hands should not be that high. They put a lot of pressure on us second half and we got deeper and deeper, We are bitterly disappointed right now because we played so well,“ explained the centre back.

From then on there was an impending sense of doom among Hertha fans in the Éstadio san Mamés, and the Blue and White fears were confirmed when Inaki Williams finished off a swift Athletic counter attack to give the Spanish side all three points and eliminate Hertha from this seasno’s competition.

Getting output for input

Had Selke been able to steer home a late volley, then Hertha would have taken a well-deserved point back to Berlin, setting up the chance to qualify from the final group game at home to Östersunds FK in two weeks‘. But that game will now be a dead rubber, with the Swedes already through and Hertha already out.

“We had the first half, they had the second,” said Dardai, who remains positive about the future of his side despite the defeat. “That first half performance shows we are on the right track, they were brave and played to win, and that will pay off eventually,” concluded the Hertha boss.

“Now it’s vital we put this result behind us and bounce back quickly. Even though it will be tough, we have to pick up something in Cologne.” Because you can’t look back on a Bundesliga game and be wondering about ifs, whens and buts either. It’s the two numbers either side of the dash that count, and Hertha will want to make sure that theirs is at least equal to Köln’s when the final whistle blows on Sunday evening.

Bilbao/Berlin– It’s the scores on the doors at full time that matter in football. That was the conclusion drawn by Pal Dardai last night after he watched his Hertha side throw away a 2-1 lead in the second half to lose 3-2 against Athletic Club in Bilbao. “Looking at how we played, we deserved the draw. But football is not about ifs, whens and buts. And without those ifs, whens and buts Hertha didn’t just lose on the night, but also saw their chances of reaching the knockout stages go out of the window as well.

(Almost) everything went to plan

It all started so well, with Hertha dominant in their final away day of the group stages, and had Mathew Leckie, Davie Selke or Fabian Lustenberger taken early chances then this one could have been so much different.

The deserved lead came through Leckie, who celebrated his return to the side by heading home Maxi Mittelstädt’s cross midway through the first half. “We started so well and totally deserved to open the scoring,” said the youngster. Dardai admitted that the gameplan worked 100%, even when Sebastian Langkamp was seen to have fouled a home player in the box, leading to Artiz Aduriz’s equaliser from the spot.

Hertha’s reply was instant and superb. Lazaro left his man for dead down the right and beautifully chipped the ball across for Davie Selke to head those in dark blue straight back into the lead.

Role reversal in second half

There was no question Hertha deserved their lead at half time. Purposeful, positive and pacey in attack, it was almost impossible to tell that this was a side who had won just two away games in all competitions in the last 12 months.

But that team re-emerged again after the break, and from the outset it looked like it would be a long 45 minutes in Bilbao. “We were lacking something in the second half. We did not seem to know how to deal with their attacks,” conceded Dardai.

The lead lasted until the 66th minute, when Langkamp was harshly deemed to have deliberately handled a cross from the right, and Aduriy converted his second penalty of the night to level things up again.

Langkamp accepted blame, saying: “I am so sorry. Even if I felt the first was a bit unfortunate, the second one is completely on me. A defender’s hands should not be that high. They put a lot of pressure on us second half and we got deeper and deeper, We are bitterly disappointed right now because we played so well,“ explained the centre back.

From then on there was an impending sense of doom among Hertha fans in the Éstadio san Mamés, and the Blue and White fears were confirmed when Inaki Williams finished off a swift Athletic counter attack to give the Spanish side all three points and eliminate Hertha from this seasno’s competition.

Getting output for input

Had Selke been able to steer home a late volley, then Hertha would have taken a well-deserved point back to Berlin, setting up the chance to qualify from the final group game at home to Östersunds FK in two weeks.

But that game will now be a dead rubber, with the Swedes already through and Hertha already out. “We had the first half, they had the second,” said Dardai, who remains positive about the future of his side despite the defeat.

“That first half performance shows we are on the right track, they were brave and played to win, and that will pay off eventually,” concluded the Hertha boss. “Now it’s vital we put this result behind us and bounce back quickly. Even though it will be tough, we have to pick up something in Cologne.”

Because you can’t look back on a Bundesliga game and be wondering about ifs, whens and buts either. It’s the two numbers either side of the dash that count, and Hertha will want to make sure that theirs is at least equal to Köln’s when the final whistle blows on Sunday evening.