Immediately after the defeat against Leipzig, the dark forebodings came up again. It was clear that Schalke and Stuttgart would win their games the next day, some fans said. And that Hertha BSC will be in last place in the Bundesliga table at the end of the weekend. No Easter resurrection!
It wasn’t that bad after all: Stuttgart won in Bochum and pushed Hertha out of relegation rank. But Schalke lost at TSG Hoffenheim. It was an almost Solomonic answer to an almost philosophical question: Would it really have been that bad if Stuttgart and Schalke had won and Bochum and TSG had lost at the same time?
Although Hertha would have fallen back to last place, the first non-relegation zone would still have remained within striking distance. In the other case, Hertha, viewed realistically, would only have fought for the relegation rank with Schalke and Stuttgart. Do you prefer the sparrow in the hand or the dove on the roof? That was the question here.
The relegation battle is always a theoretical mind game: What if…? Who should…? Who would have to…? Who should…? And the upcoming game day, the seventh to last of the season, is ideally suited for such mind games. The four teams in places 13 to 16 all play teams from the top four in the league, would have to under normal circumstances therefore remain without points.
Good prospects for Schalke, bottom of the table, and Hertha, the penultimate, who face comparatively easy tasks: They meet in Gelsenkirchen in a direct duel on Friday evening (8.30 p.m., live on Dazn). More struggle for existence is not possible. “We know that the game is something special,” said Schalke coach Thomas Reis.
Both teams are calculating something, both are probably right. Hertha is allowed to compete with the weakest home team in the league (only thirteen points). Schalke receive the worst away team (only five points). In addition, they have clinched three of their four wins this season against direct competitors, the last one against VfL Bochum at the beginning of March. Schalke was last there too, played against the penultimate team and won.
Hertha has the easiest program
And Herta? The Berliners lost in direct duels with the competition in Bochum this year and in the most depressing way at TSG Hoffenheim – when they were unable to pull the often-cited momentum on their side despite favorable conditions.
That’s why Hoffenheim are now a good example of how quickly things can turn in the relegation battle. Before the game against Hertha, they seemed doomed. Apparently unstoppable, they staggered towards relegation – until Hertha brought TSG back to life. Two more wins followed, so Hoffenheim are now out of the woods. At least for now.
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Just this season there has already been a duel between last and penultimate. Once the last one won, once the penultimate.
But the defeat in Sinsheim could also have been a salutary shock for Hertha. After eight consecutive defeats away from home, the team then picked up a point away from home for the first time (1-1 in Freiburg). And against Leipzig on the Easter weekend, she at least defended herself with passion worthy of a relegation fight.
“In the last two games, you felt that we were completely there, that we were accepting the situation,” says Sandro Schwarz. But according to Hertha’s coach, good B grades are no longer enough: “We are also aware that it’s about the result.”
Things are now bound to come to a head in the final stages of the season. Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann even declared the duel against Hertha a final for his team. In view of the demanding remaining program, Schalke is almost doomed to win on Friday.
The nerves are playing along too, and maybe it will help Hertha that they flutter a little more at Schalke. “It’s important to have the emotions under control, not to overdo it, not to get infected by the heated atmosphere and the table constellation,” says coach Schwarz. On the other hand, such games also need a basic emotionality. “If we think we’ll solve everything in terms of football, it will be relatively difficult.”
It’s important to have the emotions under control, not to overdo it, not to get infected by the heated atmosphere and table constellation.
Sandro Schwarz, Coach of Hertha BSC
On paper, Hertha has a much better quality squad than Schalke. In reality, that’s just one point and one place in the table.
On paper, Hertha also has the lightest remaining program of all six teams in the bottom third of the table. The average placement of the next seven opponents until the end of the season is 11.7. At TSG Hoffenheim the value is 7.4, at Schalke 7.6. The Berliners only meet two teams (Bayern and Wolfsburg) from the top half of the table. Hoffenheim and Schalke, on the other hand, are down to five each.
Jenz returns to Schalke
Even if Schalke’s coach Reis doesn’t want to talk about a final against Hertha: He at least suspects that a defeat could have a decisive character in the fight against relegation. But Sandro Schwarz is also looking forward to the game with a mixture of excitement and anticipation, sees “a huge opportunity in this game”. The winner jumps to the relegation place at least for one night. “If you don’t feel like it…”, says Reis. “It just has to make you happy.”
The fact that he can fall back on Moritz Jenz again for the first time against Hertha also helps to improve his mood. The centre-back, who joined from Celtic Glasgow in the winter, has been out twice recently through injury. Both games were lost. With the native of Berlin Jenz, who has significantly stabilized the defense, Schalke are still undefeated.
Sandro Schwarz still has to answer the questions of whether Marco Richter will return to the starting XI for former Schalke player Jonjoe Kenny and who should take second place in the attack alongside Dodi Lukebakio: Jessic Ngankam or Wilfried Kanga, who was recently allowed to start twice?
From Black’s point of view, Ngankam is probably better suited as a joker. He last showed that in Freiburg when he equalized after coming on to make it 1-1.
He already proved that in May 2021, at Hertha’s last guest appearance in Gelsenkirchen. After a good hour, Ngankam came on as a substitute when the score was 1-1, fifteen minutes before the end he made it 2-1, which was also enough to win because Schalke hit the post twice in injury time.
Incidentally, FC Schalke was bottom of the table at the time.
