By Rich
Hertha Berlin suffered its second home loss of the season at the hands of visiting Hoffenheim on Friday. Hertha’s lone goal came early in the match from Peter Pekarik, and later lost Maximilian Mittelstädt due to a second yellow card. Hoffenheim’s goals came from Andrej Kramaric at the 39th and 86th minutes, and from Niklas Süle at the 76th minute. The win moves Hoffenheim into a momentary 3rd place in the table going into Saturday’s matches, including the all-important derby between Schalke and Dortmund, and the loss for Hertha endangers their Champions League outlook for next season. Hertha did announce this week their plans to move into a new stadium by 2025, to be privately funded. Attendance at home matches in the aging Olympiastadion averages only 64%, and the club’s first wish is to build a “pure football arena” next to their current home. Saturday will see the second Revierderby of the season, as Schalke hosts Dortmund, and the stakes are high: Dortmund needs a win to pull back into 3rd place in the table and to give them momentum for next weekend’s match against Bayern, while Schalke need to make up a 4-point gap to pull into Europa League territory and to possibly qualify for Champions League play next season. Dortmund will be playing without Mario Götze, Sebastian Rode, Erik Durm, Andre Schürrle, and Marco Reus. For Schalke, the stakes are even higher in the long term: the Bundesliga is dominated by Bayern and Dortmund, with Leipzig emerging this season as a wealthy rival, and as the league becomes more popular internationally, Schalke, with its storied history, wants to remain relevant, and needs a spot in the Champions League to do so. Bayer Leverkusen’s Lars Bender is scheduled to undergo an ankle operation next week and will miss the rest of the season. The ankle injury occurred on March 4th in a loss to Dortmund. Bayern München, who will be playing in their own derby Saturday against nearby Augsburg, announced the opening of a football school in Shenzhen, China, which will be regularly visited by Bayern’s youth coaches. Bayern will play against AC Milan in Shenzhen on July 22nd as part of their summer tour of China and Singapore.
Hertha Berlin suffered its second home loss of the season at the hands of visiting Hoffenheim on Friday. Hertha’s lone goal came early in the match from Peter Pekarik, and later lost Maximilian Mittelstädt due to a second yellow card. Hoffenheim’s goals came from Andrej Kramaric at the 39th and 86th minutes, and from Niklas Süle at the 76th minute. The win moves Hoffenheim into a momentary 3rd place in the table going into Saturday’s matches, including the all-important derby between Schalke and Dortmund, and the loss for Hertha endangers their Champions League outlook for next season. Hertha did announce this week their plans to move into a new stadium by 2025, to be privately funded. Attendance at home matches in the aging Olympiastadion averages only 64%, and the club’s first wish is to build a “pure football arena” next to their current home. Saturday will see the second Revierderby of the season, as Schalke hosts Dortmund, and the stakes are high: Dortmund needs a win to pull back into 3rd place in the table and to give them momentum for next weekend’s match against Bayern, while Schalke need to make up a 4-point gap to pull into Europa League territory and to possibly qualify for Champions League play next season. Dortmund will be playing without Mario Götze, Sebastian Rode, Erik Durm, Andre Schürrle, and Marco Reus. For Schalke, the stakes are even higher in the long term: the Bundesliga is dominated by Bayern and Dortmund, with Leipzig emerging this season as a wealthy rival, and as the league becomes more popular internationally, Schalke, with its storied history, wants to remain relevant, and needs a spot in the Champions League to do so. Bayer Leverkusen’s Lars Bender is scheduled to undergo an ankle operation next week and will miss the rest of the season. The ankle injury occurred on March 4th in a loss to Dortmund. Bayern München, who will be playing in their own derby Saturday against nearby Augsburg, announced the opening of a football school in Shenzhen, China, which will be regularly visited by Bayern’s youth coaches. Bayern will play against AC Milan in Shenzhen on July 22nd as part of their summer tour of China and Singapore.
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