No letting up

Even three days after the crucial win in Augsburg, the smiles still haven’t been wiped off the Hertha players faces. Spirits were high on the training pitch on Tuesday and that positivity was coupled with the determination already felt in Saturday’s post-match interviews, as well as the awareness that there are still four just as important games to go. Santiago Ascacíbar was symbolic of Hertha’s mindset both in Augsburg and in the first training session of the week, with the Argentine battling through the full 90 minutes despite suffering a head wound. “The win did us the world of good – it was important for us mentally but also for the table. My head was throbbing a bit after the game, but the three points made me forget about the injury very quickly,” said the 25-year-old ahead of the meeting with his former club VfB Stuttgart (24.04.22, 17:30 CEST). The focus is now 100 percent on that clash. After all, victory on the weekend was just the first step on the road to Bundesliga survival, which will require more points still. “We haven’t achieved anything yet,” underlined Davie Selke.

Seven players absent from team training

The Hertha number 7 was one of the 24 players involved in head coach Felix Magath’s team training session, which also featured Julian Eitschberger and Luca Wollschläger from the U19s.  While Linus Gechter sat out with a cold, Alexander Schwolow, Lucas Tousart, Donjun Lee, Myziane Maolida, Kélian Nsona and Stevan Jovetić all trained individually.

Tuesday’s session lasted around an hour. After a thorough warm-up, the players were put through their paces in different drills, some with goals and some without. When it did come down to working the ball into the back of the net, two moments caught the eye in particular. The first was a brilliantly worked goal from Eitschberger, who finished off great interplay between Prince Boateng, Selke and Peter Pekarík. It was followed by a stunning half-volley with the outside of his boot from Ascacíbar, who had initially sent the ball out to the wing before getting on the end of Pekarík’s cross himself.

A repeat of those moves would be very welcome at the end of this week. “It’s important that we build up towards the next game with each session and play with as much determination against VfB as we did in Augsburg,” said Selke, who knows that a win on Sunday would be another step towards safety. Right now, it’s about not letting up!