Loss in first game back

Hertha BSC lost their first game of the Rückrunde 4-0 at home to FC Bayern Munich. Despite plenty of heart and effort, the ‘Old Lady’ conceded four unanswered goals.

Formation

Jürgen Klinsmann made two changes from the previous game as Karim Rekik was only fit enough for the bench after picking up a muscle injury, and was subsequently replaced by Jordan Torunarigha. New man Santiago Ascacibar celebrated his debut in place of Eduard Löwen in midfield. Niklas Stark withdrew from the squad due to illness. Ex-Herthaner Jerome Boateng started for the visitors, while Robert Lewandowski started up front, with Serge Gnabry on the bench.

Match Analysis

The boys began the game in high spirits on a fresh, new pitch against Germany’s record champions. Rune Jarstein and the strong defence in front of him stood tall and disciplined against Hansi Flick’s side and neither team created any real chances in the first 20 minutes.  The first real opportunity did however fall to the home side as a great cross came in from the left foot of Marvin Plattenhardt on to the head of Davie Selke but the striker couldn’t direct his effort on target (21’). Bayern then had their first chance of the game just five minutes later as Lewandowski stood strong against Dedryck Boyata and worked his way in to the box but his flicked effort went just wide of the mark (25’). The game plan was clear from Klinsmann’s men: break up the Bayern attacks and look to get forward on the counter as often as possible. The agile Davie Selke saw his shot blocked by David Alaba as time ticked on in the first half (42’), before Coutinho’s shot was held well by Jarstein as the other end (45’). After a half where chances were rare, the teams went in to the break level.

After the restart with no changes for either side, the dynamics of the game were also unchanged; Bayern had more of the possession, and Hertha sat deeper. But the visitors began to intensify their efforts. Ivan Perisic made up for an inaccurate 52nd minute header by having a shot cleared off the line six minutes later by Boyata, who came to the aid of the stranded Jarstein. The ‘keeper had to be on hand quickly to deny Lewandowski’s chance a minute later, but this valiant resistance counted for little as Thomas Müller fired in from close range in the 60th minute to give Bayern the lead. Jarstein was picking the ball out of the net again only three minutes later, but referee Tobias Stieler ruled it out as Lewandowski had headed the ball out of the Czech’s hands. After the goal was disallowed, Javairo Dilrosun found Selke who fired over from 16 yards in the hosts first attack of the second half (67’). Although just as Hertha were looking dangerous, Bayern struck again. After a mistake from Lukas Klünter, he brought down Leon Goretzka in the Hertha penalty area, and Lewandowski was on hand to convert the penalty (73’). Three minutes later things went bad to worse as Thiago curled in an effort into the top corner that went in off the bottom of the crossbar (76’). But the game wasn’t over yet, as Perisic scored a header that bounced in past Jarstein to make it 4-0 (83’). A chance from Pascal Köpke to score a late consolation went begging as Manuel Neuer made an incredible save to preserve Bayern’s clean sheet (85’).

Conclusion and Outlook

The Herthaner made it really difficult for Bayern for large parts of the game with their effort and spirit, but after 90 minutes, they still finished the game having conceded four unanswered goals. The first goal was such a sucker punch and a hard one to take for the home side. The result leaves Jürgen Klinsmann’s side 14th in the table ahead of their upcoming battle against VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday (25/01/20, 15:30 CEST).