A good start

Berlin – The Herthaner were greeted by sunny skies as they began training at the Schenckendorffplatz. After a draw against Wolfsburg on the weekend, where Hertha could have hoped to take home more than just a point due to several good chances in the second half, the Blue-Whites were hard at work preparing for their upcoming challenge. On Saturday, (07/11/20, 15:30 CET), Bruno Labbadia’s side will take on FC Augsburg. “It was a great session to start with, not that intense just yet, but we saw some good work,” said Eduard Löwen, who will be looking forward to a reunion with his former side this Saturday.

The team started the session with some running, before moving into passing drills in two groups spread out on both pitches at the Schenkendorffplatz. Not taking part were Jordan Torunarigha (quarantining after testing positive for Covid-19) and Lucas Tousart (knee). Santiago Ascacíbar returned to team training for the first time since recovering from a muscle injury. “It was a really good session,” said the Argentine. He added, with a big smile, “I had no issues and feel 100 per cent fit again.” The team then moved into finishing drills, again split into two groups.

Finally, both groups scrimmaged on a shortened pitch. Bruno Labbadia and his coaching staff were looking for the players to switch over quickly, which they managed to do every now and then in spectacular fashion. “It looked pretty good at times. If we’re able to take what we’re practicing and put it into action against Augsburg, then it will definitely help us in attack,” said Vladimir Darida. He and several of his teammates, along with assistant coach Eddy Sözer then stuck around to continue taking shots, until it began to grow dark. The Herthaner will continue to train behind closed doors for the remainder of the week, due to the coronavirus pandemic.