Fourth place at the Telekom Cup

Hertha BSC finished in fourth place in the Telekom Cup after losing to Gladbach and Fortuna Düsseldorf on Sunday (13/01).

Düsseldorf – Hertha BSC finished in last place at the tenth edition of the Telekom Cup. Pál Dárdai’s side lost 1-0 to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the semi-finals, before losing 3-1 to Fortuna Düsseldorf in the third place play-off. The final will be contested between Bayern München and Gladbach. This was the first time that Hertha had taken part in the competition.

The Blue-Whites started the game against Borussia with real intent and Vedad Ibišević tested keeper Tobias Sippel after just two minutes. Gladbach were more successful with their first offensive action of the game: Thorgan Hazard unleashed a piledriver which left Rune Jarstein no chance, making it 1-0 after five minutes. The Norwegian keeper denied Florian Neuhaus after 13 minutes, before Fabian Lustenberger superbly cleared a ball off the line in the 18th minute. Hertha continued to make chances though. Vladimír Darida burst through but was denied by Sippel, and the keeper was equal to Duda’s follow up effort too. The final chance to equalise came in the 42nd minute, as captain Ibišević failed to get on the end of a Valentino Lazaro set-piece. “There were moments that I was happy with, but also several which I wasn’t. Gladbach scored a wonderful goal, however we had enough chances to score. Nevertheless, it was good to play a game with some meaning,” commented Dárdai.

Defeat against Fortuna

The Hungarian made eleven changes to his side to face Fortuna, this time playing with a back four instead of a back three. Hertha got the early goal on this occasion: former Hertha shot-stopper Jaroslav Drobny played a pass straight to Salomon Kalou, who squared it for Pascal Köpke, who calmly slotted the ball home after three minutes. The hosts responded quickly, with Kenan Karaman equalising in the 11th minute. Twelve minutes later, Karim Rekik fouled Raman in the area and Marvin Ducksch sent Thomas Kraft the wrong way to make it 2-1. Kraft then made a superb reaction stop from Andre Hoffmann’s close-range header, but he couldn’t do anything about Ducksch making it 3-1 in the 32nd minute. Hertha failed to find a way back into the game, meaning they had to go home with two defeats. “I think it was clear that we have plenty of things to work on ahead of next week”, said sporting director Michael Preetz. The “Old Lady” will face 1. FC Nürnberg next Sunday (20/01, 15:30 CET).

XI (Semi-final): Jarstein , Torunarigha, Lustenberger, Stark, Plattenhardt, Maier, Darida, Duda, Lazaro, Selke, Ibisevic
Goal: 0-1 Hazard (5’)

XI (third place play-off): Kraft, Mittelstädt, Rekik, Baak, Pekarik, Friede, Skjelbred, Jastrzembski, Kalou, Dárdai, Köpke.
Goals: 1-0 Köpke (3‘), 1-1 Karaman (11‘), 1-2 Ducksch (23‘), 1-3 Ducksch (32‘)