I saw on Twitter today that the court battles to maintain the chances of Hertha BSC staying in 1. Bundesliga could go on until late June. Sorry but this is madness.

Much as I would like Hertha to stay in the top flight I want them to do so by playing not on a court room.

The playoff match was an abomination it is true but, what is done is done. Over the rückrunde we were (sadly) just not good enough.

Why can't we just accept the drop and get on with next season.

Internal politics and egos have done a lot to wreck our performance on the pitch through much of this season.

Who knows what kind of bans / penalties we might eventually face next season after Düsseldorf . . .

The old lady needs the kind of stability and confidence that comes from a team working harmoniously at the top. Something clearly absent at the moment . . .

Well it looks like all of that pressure got to Bayern.  Chelsea were playing a very, very defensive game and soaked up the pressure applied by Bayern.  Bayern had so many corners and so many chances but they just couldn't finish. Eventually Thomas Müller put it past Cech and I think every Chelsea fan thought "that was it".

Then, who else but Didier Drogba with a bullet of a header! Game on we thought and then, Drogs gave away a crazy penalty as Ribery goes down in the box. As fate would have it, Robben then had a shocker 2 minutes and Cech saved the penalty. This really wasn't going to be Bayerns night.

Then it came to penalties, the commentators came out with the normal stereotypical comments about "German penalties". Mata missed the first one (Chelsea hearts sank thinking of Moscow). Then Ivica Olic missed his chance and all square with Schweinsteiger and Drogba to go.

A terrible Terry-Moscow moment hit Schweinsteiger who just wanted to be swallowed up by the ground leaving Drogs to score the winner. You couldn't write a story like this one . . .

Not pretty but hey, Chelsea won with the tactics that worked for them and we went to the Victory parade up in London on the following day. An amazing experience - wonderful atmosphere . . . .

Check out the video of the parade . .
The Chelsea Victory Parade - European Champions 2012

Well it's just a few hours to go before Chelsea play Bayern at home in München. I want them to win but it really isn't going to be easy for them. They must be the underdrogs ( sorry I couldn't resist the pun).

The pressure on Bayern must be massive with Borussia Dortmund getting the double this year this is their only chance of silverware. Not winning would be catestrophic for them so they'll fight tooth and nail.

Having said this, the Blues managed to get past Barca and nobody really thought they'd do that either. It's a cup game . . . . . anything can happen . . . . .

Blue is the colour . . .

Well, Hertha BSC lost out in the second leg of the playoff and it looks like they’ll be enjoying the delights of 2. Bundesliga in the 2012/2013 season. Hertha draw last night (2:2) but lose 4:3 on aggregate.  However, more than a metaphorical cloud is hanging over the last match following crowd trouble from both sets of supporters. 

Firstly some of the Hertha away fans started throwing flares onto the pitch after Fotunta scored a second goal.  Herr Stark saw fit to add an extra seven minutes as the match was stopped whilst the crowd was calmed down and the flares cleared.

Hertha equalised with a strike by Raffael on the 85th minutes and thoughts of a “Man City” style recovery were all over Twitter as well as my mind!

Then with over a minute left to play the Düsseldorfer fans stormed the pitch!  Some of them started digging chunks of turf from the pitch which appeared on E-Bay within an a hour or so – unbelievable!!

Chaos reigned but eventually both sides returned to the pitch and most of the remaining time was played.  Hertha may well appeal against this result and they are due to hold a press conference on Thursday the 17th of May.  We’ll see . . .

I always say to people how Bundesliga matches are great to watch and how the friendly rivalry in the crowds is a pleasure to experience.  As a result I found the crowd scenes particularly sad.  Following the flares going off after the Köln match I worry about the Bundesliga in the future having seen the “bad old days” in English football in years past. 

What will happen?  Hertha will probably make a legal challenge but I can’t see the DFB setting a replay.  Even if they did, I’m not sure how happy I would be with Hertha staying up in that way.  It should be decided on the pitch rather than in with the aid of lawyers . . . on the other hand . . what happened really wasn’t right.

There may well be a cost to both teams following the antics of their alleged “fans” that went so far to ruin the evening.  I don’t see how these people can call themselves fans when they bring shame onto their cubs . . . .

The match did not go well tonight - a 1:2 loss to Fortunate Düsseldorf.

We took the lead fairly early in the first half and things were looking good for a period. We even looked in control for a few minutes after the goal.

In the second half - our defenders fell asleep for the first goal (Mr Hyde returns) and the second goal was an own goal from our man Ramos.

It's pretty obvious Hertha needs to address these problems. Perhaps it's too late for this season although I hope it's not. I need to calm down before I comment further . . . .

After a terrible rückrunde Hertha have still managed (just) to avoid automatic relegation in the 2011/12 Bundesliga season. 

They play the first leg of the relegation playoffs tonight at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.  Sadly I am not able to be there but it is being broadcast on “free to air” (FTA) German TV tonight.  That’s something at least.  It sounds like there is going to be a very good crowd there and I hope the give the team a fantastic lift.

Sad news from the Hoffenheim match about our 20 year old striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga picked up damage to his ACL after an awkward fall.  Hopefully he will recover faster that the doctors have said.

I gather Düsseldorf have been creating chances in 2. Bundesliga and have scored 25 goals from set pieces. Hertha would do well to maintain their discipline and organisation whilst still respond to moves made by the Düsseldorf players.  There have been too many cases during this year’s rückrunde of Hertha’s defense standing roughly in the right place but, not staying with the opposition and then ending up watching the ball fly in the net.

Hertha did enjoy the result against Hoffenheim so I hope they will “have their tails up” now and will finish the job for this season.  They have been a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde team this rückrunde, mostly Mr Hyde unfortunately.  Let’s hope this lift brings the good Doctor to the fore and allow them to play in the way we know they can.  They were mid table in the middle of the hinrunde and looking comfortable. It’s worth remembering they beat Borussia Dortmund and not many teams have done that this season!!

I am drinking out of my Hertha mug, and I have my Hertha shirt at the ready and looking forward to the match.  Good luck to the team and I hope they do us proud!

Ha Ho He   Hertha BSC

Well, here we go. I've fired up the app for the first time but it's getting quite late now so it'll have to be a short post I think!

Hertha have just avoided automatic relegation from 1. Bundesliga (YAY!) and they are in the playoffs. The home match is at the Olympiastation this Thursday, the 10th of May at 20:30.

Bad news - I can't be there
Good News - its on TV - Sportschau Live on ARD das Erste starting at 20:15 - that's me sorted then :)