Matchday 17: Wolfsburg wipes off Hertha in the Olympic Stadium

After the next debacle, the Hertha players were greeted with icy silence.

Matchday 17: Wolfsburg wipes off Hertha in the Olympic Stadium

After the next debacle, the Hertha players were greeted with icy silence. When going into the curve, there weren't even whistles from the disappointed supporters. Niko Kovac gave his old love Hertha BSC a bad stab with his VfL Wolfsburg in the relegation battle.

Three days after the six-pack against SC Freiburg, the Lower Saxony experienced the next goal frenzy in the 5-0 (3-0) in Berlin and exacerbated the mood of crisis in the frighteningly helpless capital city club. The first half was the worst thing I've seen this season," said managing director Fredi Bobic. "The players know that too. It was really underground."

Mattias Svanberg (4th minute), Maximilian Arnold (31st/penalty), Jonas Wind (34th), Ridle Baku (72nd) and Omar Marmoush (86th) scored the goals in the one-sided game.

While Wolfsburg is now on course for the European Cup with ten games without defeat, the desolate Hertha remains in 17th place at the end of the first half of the Bundesliga. In front of 29,483 spectators in the Olympic Stadium, the Berliners suffered their heaviest defeat of the season and conceded five goals for the first time. "I wish the club that they get out of there. My heart is in Hertha," said Kovac, who was very satisfied with his team's performance: "It was a great performance in an away game."

Clap before the derby

Kovac's coaching colleague Sandro Schwarz has to get the blue and whites up quickly, otherwise the next humiliation threatens in the derby against 1. FC Union Berlin on Saturday. Central defender Agustin Rogel, who saw his fifth yellow card, will not be there. "It's something that needs to be worked on. The next few days will be very tough, also for the boys," said Bobic. Schwarz spoke of "a slap in the face. That needs to be questioned critically, including the head coach, it's logical," announced Schwarz.

The coach had demanded much more intensity and aggressiveness from his players after the 1:3 disappointment in Bochum. He was offered exactly the opposite from the start. "We wanted to go into the game differently, we missed that," he analyzed. "We lost access and lost our heads too."

Svanberg duped the entire Berlin defensive network with a horizontal run through the Hertha penalty area and scored his first Bundesliga goal, which is well worth seeing. Even in Bochum, Schwarz missed an answer to an early deficit. This time what happened at Hertha in terms of coordinated build-up: Nothing! A shot from Suat Serdar (24th) was everything. Dodi Lukebakio - recently suspended and now a beacon of hope simply because of his return - dribbled the ball uncontrollably out of bounds.

Wolfsburg plays free

Even worse: After Rogel was only able to compensate for his personal speed limit with a rude bump against Patrick Wimmer, Lukebakio fended off the following free kick in the wall quite clumsily with his elbow. Arnold converted the penalty safely. "We want to see you fight," echoed the ranks. On the grandstand, Hertha's managing director Fredi Bobic and the still ailing winter signing Florian Niederlechner looked quite contrite. The liberated Wolfsburg showed how easy football can be even at freezing point. Wind quickly added the third goal.

For the second half, Kevin-Prince Boateng swore in his colleagues in front of the substitute bench. That had an effect at first. At least there was fighting now. Hertha now played braver, showed at least one face-saving performance and also benefited from the fact that the mellow Wolfsburg allowed a little more. However, the attack efforts did not have resounding success. Instead, Wolfsburg even followed up twice.

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