Plans over the winter break for Hertha Berlin

The winter break will start later than usual this year in the Bundesliga. The ball will still be rolling in the top flight on the 23rd December. The capital club will play their final game of 2018 only three days before Christmas day as they take on Bayer Leverkusen (22/12/18, 15:30 CET). It will be the 36th and final game of 2018. “We are all excited to spend a few days off with family and friends. The lads should take a break and not think about football!” said the head coach.

Training begins on the 3rd January.

Of course, the Berliners will not have a completely football free winter break. “It is no surprise that the boys will have their own individual training plans that they will do at home. In addition to mobility and stabilization exercises, they should keep their strength and stamina levels high,” said fitness coach Henrik Kuchno. The players will only have the Christmas period completely free.

The Hertha players will have the start of training at the back of their minds from New Years Eve. Dárdai and his team will meet again at Schenckendorffplatz to begin the first training session of the new year at 10:00 CET. The following days will be filled with performance tests and training in the mornings and afternoons. Match practise will start with the Telekom Cup 2019 in Düsseldorf. The other teams joining Hertha BSC are hosts Fortuna, Record champions Bayern München and Borussia Mönchengladbach. There will be four games in total; two semi-finals, a final and a third place play-off with each game lasting 45 minutes. If there are any draws, the game will go to penalties. There are further friendlies being discussed.

Away game in Nürnberg

Matchday 18, the first game of 2019 will see Dárdai’s squad travel to Nürnberg on the 20th January (15:30 CET). Five days later, Schalke 04 will visit the Olympiastadion under the floodlights (25/01/18, 20:30 CET).