“We’re bitterly disappointed”

It isn’t easy to put the reasons for a defeat into words so soon after the final whistle, and it’s even less pleasant. More often than not, the reasons for a loss are complex, and difficult to explain at the best of times. Tonight’s defeat to RB Leipzig was not one of those games, though: Stevan Jovetić’s equaliser put Hertha on the front foot, but then Marc Oliver Kempf’s red card and the subsequent penalty scored by Christopher Nkunku just after the hour mark was the clear cause of the team’s capitulation. “That was the turning point of the match and everything went downhill from there,” said Marco Richter, who emphasised that the team did not react well enough to going a man down. “The defeat is far too heavy; we can’t allow ourselves to concede six in a game, even despite going a man down.” Fredi Bobic explained: “I don’t want to sugar-coat anything here; we have to perform in the way that we did before the red card, for the full 90 minutes, and convert that performance into results.” herthabsc.com has all the reaction from the Olympiastadion.

Fredi Bobic: We’re bitterly disappointed of course; you have to be after results like that. When you look at the entire match, the scoreline is crazy. Let’s be clear, there were two games tonight; the one up until the penalty, and then the one after it. Up until we went a man down and conceded the penalty, the lads put everything into the game. It’s also understandable that it’s not easy to come back from a man and a goal down against a team as good on the ball as RBL, but I don’t want to sugar-coat anything here; we have to perform in the way that we did before the red card, for the full 90 minutes, and convert that performance into results.

Marco Richter: At half time we felt like we could get something out of the game, because we dealt with the players who were missing well up to that point. After the break we bagged the equaliser and then were on the front foot, right up until the penalty and red card. That was the turning point of the match and everything went downhill from there. The defeat is far too heavy; we can’t allow ourselves to concede six in a game, even despite going a man down. I can understand the fans’ frustration, but they really gave us some words of encouragement from the stands. The squad is united in the fact that we need to push ourselves further and improve our situation as quickly as possible.