Well if you picked this weekend to visit Berlin you chose well. The Olympiastadion was full to capacity with 77,667 supporters being the figure that came up on the screen during the match and atmosphere was absolutely buzzing. We have friends over from England that came over in part at least to see the match and they could hardly fail to be impressed by the spectacle that was to unfold before their very eyes.
As you can see from the photo above the visitors in yellow and black were pretty well represented as usual and, credit where it’s due, were in fine voice for away fans in the stadium. Having a full Olympiastadion always makes a difference and adds an edge to the already outstanding atmosphere. However, if I said the number of yellow and black shirts didn’t grate a little when the stadium should be blue and white I’d be telling a big fat whopper.
As you can see from the photo above the visitors in yellow and black were pretty well represented as usual and, credit where it’s due, were in fine voice for away fans in the stadium. Having a full Olympiastadion always makes a difference and adds an edge to the already outstanding atmosphere. However, if I said the number of yellow and black shirts didn’t grate a little when the stadium should be blue and white I’d be telling a big fat whopper.
Walking up towards the stadium from the U-Bahn station there were quite a mix of home and away fans walking up to the stadium. I have never witnessed any incidents of violence in or around the stadium in all of the years that I have been going. Quite a lot of chanting, singing, placing of rival stickers and the occasional flare being let off but, for the most part, just calmly sipping beer out of bottles discussing the likely outcome of the match and its effect on the table.
On this occasion whilst walking up I was asked by an Everton supporter who wanted to know where the “Will Call” was so he and his girlfriend could collect their tickets. I casually said “Oh it’s on the right as you approach the East Gates – you can’t miss it when you’re there as there’s a big sign on the hut”. For years that would have been true but, would you believe it, they had just changed that hut to just selling ticket’s and the collection point was on the left side without the sign on the hut! Luckily I saw the same guy a bit later whilst sipping my pre-match beer and put him right.
On this occasion whilst walking up I was asked by an Everton supporter who wanted to know where the “Will Call” was so he and his girlfriend could collect their tickets. I casually said “Oh it’s on the right as you approach the East Gates – you can’t miss it when you’re there as there’s a big sign on the hut”. For years that would have been true but, would you believe it, they had just changed that hut to just selling ticket’s and the collection point was on the left side without the sign on the hut! Luckily I saw the same guy a bit later whilst sipping my pre-match beer and put him right.
As you can see below the support before, during and after the game was truly immense.
The game itself was magnificent from this completely biased Hertha fans perspective. There was an early scare when André Schürrle nearly broke through in the early minutes but hoofed his shot wide. Perhaps that early scare motivated our team to keep organised at the back and keep threats like Aubameyang at bay. To be fair Brooks stuck to him as if he were attached by a piece of rope!
Haraguchi had a half chance later but tried a shot (not his strongest suit) rather than crossing it to Ibisevic but the shot went wide. Then the big break came when Ibisevic captured the ball and made a run down half the right hand side of the pitch and he didn’t make Genki’s mistake as he slid it over to Kalou who was able to pass it into the net! Bang . . . the crowd when crazy! Well, I guess the ones in yellow and black might have been a little subdued.
After half time Dortmund came out fighting and after missing the first chance the second fell to Aubameyang who gave Jarstein no chance and levelled the score at 1:1. Much has been made of the somewhat theatrical collapse of Mitchell Weiser but not so much attention was made of the gash on his ankle following the game. Anyway, when marvelous Marvin Plattenhardt came to take his free kick with most of the Dortmund team in the wall he was truly marvelous and sent the ball over the wall and dipping into the top right corner. Need I say more than magnificent? It was a fantastic win after the cruel disappointment against Bayern at the last home game.
Haraguchi had a half chance later but tried a shot (not his strongest suit) rather than crossing it to Ibisevic but the shot went wide. Then the big break came when Ibisevic captured the ball and made a run down half the right hand side of the pitch and he didn’t make Genki’s mistake as he slid it over to Kalou who was able to pass it into the net! Bang . . . the crowd when crazy! Well, I guess the ones in yellow and black might have been a little subdued.
After half time Dortmund came out fighting and after missing the first chance the second fell to Aubameyang who gave Jarstein no chance and levelled the score at 1:1. Much has been made of the somewhat theatrical collapse of Mitchell Weiser but not so much attention was made of the gash on his ankle following the game. Anyway, when marvelous Marvin Plattenhardt came to take his free kick with most of the Dortmund team in the wall he was truly marvelous and sent the ball over the wall and dipping into the top right corner. Need I say more than magnificent? It was a fantastic win after the cruel disappointment against Bayern at the last home game.
On the Sunday after the match Hertha had a light training session at Schenckendorffplatz which gave an opportunity to see the players close up and say a thank you for the game the day before. It also gave me a chance to get a couple of them to sign programs from the last two games. I asked Vedad Ibisevic to sign the Bayern edition of "Wir Herthaner" as he scored the goal against them. For the edition from the Dortmund game who else would I ask other than Marvin Plattenhardt? The programs will form just a little memento of two cracking games albeit memorable for different reasons! I didn’t pester them beyond that as I’m sure they wanted to get off and enjoy their richly deserved Sunday afternoon off.
The Hertha U23 game against FSV Budissa Bautzen
Waiting for the game to start
I wasn’t originally planning to but I ended up going to watch the Hertha U23 team play at the Amateurstadion on the Sunday afternoon after the training.
| It was a little cool sitting in the stand as we were not really prepared for sitting/standing around like that! It was however quite sunny much of the time which did help and, when the teams came out they were bathed in sunshine. |  The teams line up |
The team played well controlled much of the match. I’m always quite impressed by the captain Tony Fuchs who puts in some pretty important tackles in midfield. Anyway, they ended up emulating their professional counterparts by winning 2:1 and so ending a very satisfying weekend for Hertha. As Union also won 2:1 away at FC St. Pauli on Friday it was a pretty good weekend for Berlin football.
Free kick to Hertha
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