It was 9:55 p.m. when the FC Bayern players trotted off the field on Friday evening to set off from Berlin for Qatar. At Hertha BSC, they had picked up three points for the already comfortable Bundesliga cushion, a final refueling stop for self-confidence on the way to the Club World Cup in the Arabian desert. It was 1-0 at the end from Munich’s point of view, a narrow victory in which goalkeeper Manuel had at least as much part as the goalscorer Kingsley Coman.
“If Bayern Munich has a great day, you have no chance,” Hertha coach Pal Dardai said before the game. “But when Bayern Munich has a normal day or a weak one, you can do something.” That sounded like truism, but the new old coach has personal experience: out of five wins by Berlin against Bayern in 40 years, Dardai has had four successes on the sidelines or on the field, once as a coach, three times as a player. At the end of this evening there was definitely another positive experience, but not a countable success.
Do something – Sami Khedira didn’t trust Dardai to do that yet. The arrival of the Berliners had a strenuous journey at the beginning of the week, many appointments, and he also lacked match practice, reported Dardai during the week. That’s why he wanted to think carefully about “whether I should throw him in”. Result: The former world champion wore his jersey with the 28th under a thick down jacket, just like his teammate from 2014 Jérôme Boateng. Bayern coach Hansi Flick this time gave Niklas Süle the preference alongside David Alaba in the back four.
After a dead straight pass from Vladimir Darida through Bayern’s central defense, Flick almost had to regret this decision in the third minute. But Dodi Lukébakio failed alone in front of Manuel Neuer. Conversely, Hertha’s goalkeeper Rune Jarstein, whom Dardai has just reinstalled as number 1 instead of Alexander Schwolow, seemed to be a bad luck after ten minutes. After a clear foul on Leroy Sané, goalkeeper Robert Lewandoski faced – and saved his penalty. The shot looked as if Lewandowski had forgotten to get a bit of momentum because of the sheer triple steps while delaying the run-up.
Hertha’s sports director Arne Friedrich, who has already beaten Bayern together with Dardai, wished “that we are brave and have more desire to win than fear of losing”. He couldn’t blame his team for the first 20 minutes. Krzysztof Piatek could have put Berlin in the lead twice, but failed because of Neuer. But what in Dardai’s categorization was probably a normal day for Bayern also includes the fact that luck helps when in doubt: Niklas Stark faked a shot from Kingsley Coman after 20 minutes so unfortunate that he almost got behind Jarstein fell just as vertically behind the goal line as the snowfall that fell incessantly into the Berlin Olympic Stadium and demanded everything from the underfloor heating.
After the lead, the game calmed down, the Bavarians now appeared more confident, the Berliners no longer quite as courageous. Kingsley Coman in particular kept targeting the Hertha goal, but the opponent never came to his aid.
In the second half, Bayern dominated the game without initially appearing with the last bite. Coman and Sané stayed busy, but also got stuck again and again. After all, Sané, who had in the meantime powdered a kind of halo into his curly hair, also helped out to the back that Flick should have had his joy. Serge Gnabry could have made the decision twice. But once he failed alone in front of the goal to Jarstein, the second time to himself when he failed to hit the ball in the penalty area. Flick finally ended Gnabry’s performance, which was again dominated by lucklessness, and brought Douglas Costa, Corentin Tolisso replaced Sané.
Matheus Cunha’s great chance to make it 1-1 shortly before the end. The ball lands next to the goal.
(Photo: Michael Sohn / dpa)
In the 81st minute there was the premiere for Sami Khedira. Shortly afterwards he even launched an attack with a won duel, which the second Berlin debutant, Nemanja Radonjic, could have used to equalize, had it not been for Manuel Neuer. In a remarkable Berlin final offensive, Matheus Cunha appeared alone in front of Neuer, overcame him – but did not hit the goal.
“You can’t celebrate in every game,” said Thomas Müller afterwards in an interview with Dazn, but he was satisfied. And now: “Do we want to put on the crown.” The tired muscles of the Bavarians can expect a pleasant 20 degrees after arriving in Doha on Saturday morning.
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