Bundesliga Preview: Borussia Dortmund vs Hertha Berlin
By Oliver Campo
Paco Alcacer and Christian Pulisic secured a win last week for Borussia Dortmund as they dropped to second place in the Bundesliga table. After some disappointing showings in recent weeks, Der BVB must keep the pressure on Bayern. An away match against 10th place Hertha Berlin places Dortmund in a must-win situation.
Match information
Location: Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany
Date: 3/16/2019
Time: 6:30p.m. Local, 1:30 p.m. ET
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Borussia Dortmund
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The Black and Yellows attempted to turn their season around, but Bayern Munich caught up to the club last weekend. With just two goals separating both teams from first place, Borussia Dortmund will need to rally hard against Hertha Berlin. Anything less than a win will make the last 8 games of the season difficult after dominating a majority of the Bundesliga.
Hertha Berlin
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Hertha Berlin’s season has been a mix of ups and downs so far. Primarily a lot of downs as the last major accomplishment of the club was reaching Europa League in the 2017/2018. Currently, with 35 points earned this year, Hertha can be happy with being assured they won’t be relegated this season. An injury to striker Davie Selke will give hope to traveling BVB fans, The striker is instrumental to Hertha. However, Hertha are one of only two teams to have taken points from the Westfalenstadion this season, and they have the tools to hurt Borussia Dortmund once again on Saturday.
Team News
Borussia Dortmund have traveled to Berlin without four key players, with Axel Witsel, Paco Alcacer, Mario Gotze and Lukasz Piszczek all missing the trip with injuries. Maximilian Philipp is also out with a knee injury. So the question is, who plays as the striker?
Opposition Star Man: Ondrej Duda
The 24-year-old Slovakian is having a great season with Hertha Berlin. Duda has managed ten goals and two assists this season, and Borussia Dortmund will have to mark him very carefully. With a small amount of space, Duda is capable of finding the back of the net as the attacking midfielder always puts himself in perfect position in the box. He will be looking to take advantage of a stumbling Dortmund defense.
Last Match
Borussia Dortmund 2 – 2 Hertha Berlin
Everyone thought Jadon Sancho had opened the scoring with a beautiful backheel goal but was chalked off as he was caught offside. In the 27th minute, Sancho did score the opener after a fine pass by Mario Gotze. Salomon Kalou leveled things up for Hertha on the counter attack heading into the second half of play.
In the second half, the home side had difficulty putting away clear chances, but Sancho tapped home Borussia Dortmund’s second after some good work by Marco Reus. Unfortunately, a defensive mistake in the box by Dan-Axel Zagadou ended up costing BVB the full 3 points as Salomon Kalou scored his second from the spot.
Possible Lineups
Hertha Berlin: Jarstein – Stark, Rekik, Torunarigha – Lazaro, Grujic, Maier, Mittelstädt – Duda – Ibisevic, Kalou
Borussia Dortmund: Bürki – Hakimi, Akanji, Zagadou, Diallo – Weigl, Delaney – Sancho, Pulisic, Guerreiro – Reus