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Bayern 2 Berlin 0
As much as Berlin enjoys hosting the German Cup final every year for the badly needed economic stimulus the 75,000 fans bring to the city, watching Bayern Munich celebrate titles on successive Saturdays in Olympiastadion while at the same time knowing their only Bundesliga side, Hertha Berlin, have been banished to the second division might have been just a bit too painful.
Berlin will be the only European capital without even a single club in the top domestic league. It must be hard to imagine Berlin being such a soccer wilderness for those in places like London, where Chelsea just won a domestic double, or other capitals with stacks of top teams to follow.
Bayern’s 4-0 victory over Werder Bremen on Saturday night was the last time the German capital will see top-flight Bundesliga soccer for another year -– until the 2011 Cup final next May. Sadly for Berlin soccer fans, Hertha’s relegation to the Zweite Liga means there will be no Bundesliga football within about 300 km of the capital. Hamburg and Hanover will the nearest Bundesliga towns next season. In fact, there will be no top-flight soccer anywhere in formerly communist East Germany with Energie Cottbus and Hansa Rostock having gone down in previous years.
This sorry state of affairs is compounded by the fact that Bayern Munich -– from the German city probably most loathed in Berlin, an affluent place that is further removed from the ‘poor but sexy’ capital than anywhere else in the country –- have now celebrated two successive titles on their turf in the last week. That is more silverware than Hertha have managed to collect in the last 80 years. Hertha’s last championship season was in back in 1930/31.
Bayern first danced in triumph in Olympic Stadium when they clinched the Bundesliga title on May 8 by beating Hertha 3-1 (picture on left) and then again seven days later on May 15 they won the German Cup with their easy win over Werder Bremen (top picture). Next Saturday Bayern could make it a treble if they beat Inter Milan in the Champions League final -– which, mercifully, will not be held in Berlin.
“It’s too bad we can’t play the Champions League final here in Berlin too,” said Bayern’s young striker Thomas Mueller. “It’s a great city for celebrating.” Mueller was smiling when he said that and it was probably well-intentioned. But to Berliners it sounded a bit like Schadenfreude. The German capital would rather celebrate a title of their own, for a change, rather than providing the catering for Bayern.
Hertha, which incredibly enough led the Bundesliga for long spells in 2008/09, were still atop the table after 25 rounds last year. But they slumped late in the season and finished fourth with 63 points, just missing out on the third and final Champions League spot to VfB Stuttgart (64 points) and trailing VfL Wolfsburg (69) and Bayern (67). It’s still hard to fathom how they fell so far, so fast this season.
Bundesliga could lose top players for next term
What a Bundesliga season! Exciting, fast-paced and at least five teams in the running for the title and believe it or not, Bayern are not top of the table.
But next season may be very different. Many of the league’s top players who have carried their teams into title contention could leave at the end of the campaign.
Hertha Berlin strikers Andriy Voronin and Marko Pantelic have fired their team to the top but are on their way out.
Voronin, who has scored eight goals in the past six matches, is on loan from Liverpool and with Hertha’s budget shrinking for next season, the more goals he scores the more difficult it will be for them to keep him. Only a Champions League spot could help finance his stay.
Pantelic, with six goals, looks even more certain to leave after recovering from injury but then being left on the bench for the past two matches as strained ties with club and coach continue.
Surprise package Wolfsburg, four points behind, could see strikers Grafite and Edin Dzeko, who have scored a combined total of 30 league goals, packing their bags with several English clubs reportedly circling for the pair.
A tale of two Hoeness*
We’ve already blogged on Hertha Berlin’s surprise win over Bayern Munich at the weekend but I thought I’d mention one more aspect to the game and the result — this was one of those rare occasions when Dieter Hoeness got one over on his more famous brother Uli.
Uli is a year older than Dieter, almost to the day. They both spent most of their playing days at Bayern but their careers were still very different.
Uli was the flamboyant attacking midfielder, Dieter the scruffy workhorse. Uli was known for his graceful counter-attacking skills and blond hair, big Dieter is best remembered for his headers and for a photograph of him bleeding on the pitch, his head heavily bandaged in a match he went on to score in.
Uli won the 1974 World Cup at the height of his career against a superb Dutch side and also bagged the 1972 European Championships, making 35 appearances for Germany. Dieter only ran out six times for his country, coming out of semi-retirement to lose in the 1986 World Cup final against Diego Maradona’s Argentina.
Uli won the European Cup with Bayern Munich three times, Dieter instead had to settle for two bitter European Cup final defeats in 1982 and 1987.
As Bayern Munich manager Uli has celebrated 16 Bundesliga titles, Dieter has so far won only one with VfB Stuttgart in 1992, where he worked as manager.
When Hertha Berlin climbed to the top of the table on the weekend for the first time in more than two years, it must have been a very sweet moment for Dieter, General Manager at the Berlin club.
Can Hertha really stay top of the Bundesliga?
Hertha Berlin have found their way to the top of the Bundesliga table for the first time since October 2006 and given their long-suffering fans a faint whiff of championship hopes.
It’s been a very long time since Hertha’s last championship in 1931 and many years since their last Champions League appearance in 2000.
The amazing thing about Hertha’s stumble up to the top after their rather undeserved 2-1 victory over a dominant Bayern Munich on Saturday is that they’re really not very good. (As a closet Hertha fan I believe I’m qualified to concede that point).
Hertha, who have broken the hearts of their fans in past years with false pre-season promise, have underwhelmed many of their opponents this season yet often ended up, improbably, with the three points. (more…)
I am not doubting that Bayern had better stats! They are the better team than Hertha.
But in football when you play a superior opponent and play a counter-attacking style, you concede the possession. That means you concede the shots as well. But when you have a superior goalkeeper – and Drobny is superior to Rensing – that is OK.
In football the only stat that counts is goals. Hertha have won matches when they have been outplayed, look at the Leverkusen match as an example.
Favre has instituted his brand of football and the team is responding. Hertha won’t play flashy football by any means, but they can be effective. The best teams in football win by one goal – Inter Milan has 10 1-goal victories and has been held scoreless three times in Serie A – nobody thinks they are not good.
Cottbus is no doubt a bogey team for Hertha, of course. But the four toughest away fixtures – Bayern, Leverkusen, Bremen (no matter how bad they are, they are a Champions League team) and Schalke – are all behind Hertha.
Look I don’t expect any miracles here. But at the same time you can’t luck your way to the top of the table in February.
Erik:
Thanks for your perspectives both on match day and above. Your piece made me think of the contrast between Hertha’s new reality versus what Red Bull is trying to do in Leipzig. It’s difficult now to see Hertha’s 08-09 success as anything but aberration. But, how much better might a “RB Berlin” have done this season? Perhaps more importantly: would Hertha’s fans have gladly celebrated a spot in European play on the back of energy drink cash or do they go to the 2. Liga disheartened, but with souls proudly intact?