A special challenge awaits Hertha BSC at Darmstadt 98

It wasn’t a real love affair. If Fabian Lustenberger had been able to choose freely, he would have chosen someone else. Another position.

Lustenberger played primarily in defensive midfield at Hertha BSC. That was where he was at home, where he felt most comfortable. But for a while he also played in central defense – and did the job so well that Hertha’s then coach Jos Luhukay called him up permanently in the back four.

As mentioned: It wasn’t real love, but Lustenberger certainly appreciated the advantages of the position. “As a central defender you have to run less,” the Swiss, who has since ended his career, once said.

A row backwards from midfield: This is not a revolutionary idea. At Hertha, Fabian Lustenberger was moved to the back four, and later Jens Hegeler too. And if everything isn’t wrong, Andreas Bouchalakis could continue this series this weekend.

For Cristian Fiél, the coach of the Berlin second division soccer team, the Greek is a possible candidate to address the drastic personnel shortage in defense. The situation is more critical than ever, especially in central defense: Hertha’s coach only has one trained central defender, 19-year-old Pascal Klemens, available for Saturday’s away game at SV Darmstadt 98 (1 p.m., live on Sky).

“It’s a challenging time,” says Fiél, who, when asked, even confirms that it has never been more challenging in his career as a coach. “But there is no reason to raise the alarm. We have enough players and we will field a good team.”

In addition to central defenders John Anthony Brooks and Linus Gechter, who have been injured for a long time, the Berliners in Darmstadt will also have to do without the suspended Marton Dardai and captain Toni Leistner, who suffered a muscle injury in his thigh in the home defeat against 1. FC Köln.

Dardai is returning after the international break. However, Fiél is not yet expecting the other defenders. Brooks recently stated that he will not be able to play again this year. It will also take a while for Gechter, although he has at least been training individually on the pitch again since this week. And even for Leistner, the international break might be too short. Fiél expects him to be out of action for two to three weeks.

Two 19-year-olds were allowed to audition for the professionals’ training this week: Sebastian Weiland played 13 games for Hertha’s U23 in the regional league this season. In the home win against Eintracht Braunschweig three weeks ago, he was in the professional team squad for the first time; However, it was not used.

In Hertha’s regional league team, Weiland usually defends alongside Peter Matiebel, who was in the starting line-up in all 14 games of the U23 season. In the past, under Fiél’s predecessor Pal Dardai, the tall central defender was allowed to train with the professionals. However, he has not yet been an option for the matchday squad.

“They are hard-working and give it their all,” says Fiél about his impressions from training. “These are guys I could throw in too. I’ll have to see whether I do that or not.” After all, the step from the regional league to the second league is still a pretty big one.

Fiél tested the back three

Different than for Andreas Bouchalakis. The trained six would stay in the center, “it would simply be one level further back for him,” says Fiél. “I believe he could play that.”

A three-man chain would also be possible, consisting of Klemens in the center and the two full-backs Jonjoe Kenny and Deyovaisio Zeefuik at his side. Last month, Fiél tried exactly this variant once – in the friendly against Hertha 03 Zehlendorf.

But Darmstadt 98 will be a completely different challenge for the Berliners than the regional league team from their own city. The relegated team from the Bundesliga has recently attracted particular attention due to its strong offensive.

The best goalscorer in the league is Darmstädter

When Florian Kohfeldt became the club’s new coach at the beginning of September, the team had just scored two goals in four league games. Since then, 21 goals have been added, an average of exactly three per game. In a virtual table that only took into account the games under Kohfeldt, the Darmstadt team is currently in third place.

Only Hamburger SV (25) and 1. FC Nürnberg (24) have scored more goals. The Hessians also have the top scorer list with Swede Isac Lidberg (eight goals in nine appearances). “You’ll have to defend well,” says Fiél. “Otherwise they can cause you big problems.”

There are some indications that Andreas Bouchalakis will be of particular importance here, not least a statement from Hertha’s coach: “It’s about finding the players who might then play in a position that they haven’t played in before and who “We haven’t had any minutes for a long time.”

Bouchalakis has played more games for the Greek national team this season (two) than for Hertha (one). He only made it into the matchday squad in the last three matches; he was substituted once: against Karlsruher SC, seven minutes before the end.

It was certainly not an easy time for the 31-year-old. Coach Fiél still experienced him “as a top professional” who “accepts the situation as it is.” He also needs someone in central defense on Saturday.