On a Sunday when the autumn wind invited people to turn up their collars and put on their slouch hats like spies, affair-ridden Hertha drew 1-1 against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. After striker Andrej Kramaric gave Hoffenheim a deserved lead in the 25th minute, Spanish winger José Ángel Esmorís Tasende, better known by the alias Angeliño, turned out to be Hertha’s double agent. With a hair-raising bad pass to Chidra Ejuke, he initiated the equalizer for Hertha, which Belgian striker Dodi Lukébakio scored (37th). Hoffenheim fell out of the Champions League ranks, Hertha missed the jump from the bottom third of the table to midfield – after a game whose entertainment value could not keep up with the thriller about investor Lars Windhorst.
Whereby: The hurdle is not that easy to take.
As a reminder, on Thursday, the British business newspaper Financial Times reports that an Israeli security company called Shibumi had sued both Windhorst and a branch of its Tennor Group in Tel Aviv – for allegedly not paying fees for an alleged undercover action against Hertha President Werner Gegenbauer, who resigned in May 2022. A concerted campaign against Gegenbauer had been launched on the Internet, and the entrepreneur was said to have been exposed to informers. Windhorst called the report “nonsense”, the owner of Shibumi also denied it. But: The Israeli judiciary confirmed the existence of a complaint by Shibumi against Windhorst and Tennor and also that it was filed just after the FT made the story public. Why the case was closed remained a mystery. But the affair is far from over.
Windhorst speaks up somewhat piqued
On Friday, Hertha requested a detailed statement from Tennor; In addition, a law firm was commissioned to examine and evaluate the process. A press conference scheduled for Tuesday with new president Kay Bernstein, managing directors Fredi Bobic and Thomas E. Herrich and Windhorst was canceled. The occasion would have been Bernstein’s 100-day tenure.
Windhorst, in turn, spoke up on Saturday – somewhat piqued. “I take note of the decision of the Hertha club management to postpone a press conference and to have Berlin lawyers investigate,” Windhorst wrote in a Facebook group. “It is extremely regrettable, however, that no attempt was made to clarify open questions in a joint internal discussion. Instead, as in the past, the press used piercings and indiscretions,” wrote Windhorst, who has been with Hertha since the summer of 2019 for 374 million euros invested and thus acquired two thirds of the shares in the professional department. “There was no opportunity to answer the question asked in the letter within the club. All of this has nothing to do with a new beginning and respect.” Manager Bobic said on Sunday: “I don’t react to that at all.” And the team? It was clear that everyone noticed that, said coach Sandro Schwarz after the final whistle; “but I didn’t have the feeling that the guys in the training sessions or in the dressing room would have dealt with it very much.” The fans reacted to that.
The east curve spoke up with a statement that basically represented a barely disguised request to initiate a procedure for expulsion from the club. If the reports are correct, Windhorst would have been guilty of a “blatant breach of all of Hertha BSC’s values” and “damaged the club in an unbelievable way,” wrote the active fan scene, which was very critical of Gegenbauer.
The Hertha fans position themselves clearly against the investor Lars Windhorst.
(Photo: Sebastian Räppold/Matthias Koch/Imago)
“If we Hertha fans let this go because Werner Gegenbauer was supposedly the right person, we would send a signal that this method works,” it said. At the start of the game, a banner hung in the east stand, on which everything could be read in summary: “Dirty campaigns, detectives and millions will not end it. Hertha BSC remains firmly in our hands.” A crossed-out portrait of Windhorst was also later shown.
Hertha comes into play in the second half
The game that then unfolded was quite varied. Wilfried Kanga and Lukébakio (8th/16th) were the first to sign Hertha, but then Hoffenheim converted their superiority into chances that Kramaric (20th) and Munas Dabbur (21st) were unable to take advantage of. In the 26th minute, however, Hoffenheim took the lead: An outside instep pass from Angeliño into the backcourt was dealt with by central defender Ozan Kabak, whose shot was deflected by Kramaric into the goal. Hertha equalized again after Angeliño’s mistake: Hoffenheim’s winger hit a pass into the center which Chidera Ejuke intercepted. The Nigerian passed to Lukébakio, who didn’t give goalkeeper Oliver Baumann a chance.
Shortly before the break there was more excitement: after another brilliant pass from Angeliño, Kramaric volleyed the ball under the crossbar, Grischa Pröml headed the rebound towards the goal, but Hertha defender Marc-Oliver Kempf knocked him off the line. After the break, Hoffenheim’s superiority from the first half was almost gone, so coach Andreas Breitenreiter, on his 49th birthday, finally agreed to the points being shared. “We have to blame ourselves for not closing the sack sooner. Hertha come in better in the second half and we’re a bit too passive,” said Breitenreiter.
