Hertha BSC v 1. FC Union Berlin - 20:15 Monday 11th February 2013

Updated 23rd November 2012 at 5:30pm with KO date and time

Due to the amount of correspondence I receive about the Berlin derby I decided I'd try and cover some of the main points about tickets for this fixture in a blog piece.


Image courtesy of Offside.com

I want sit/stand in the away end

Unless you're a member or have a season ticket at Union this is going to be difficult. Even with a membership card you only have until Wednesday 14th November at 8pm to travel to the ticket office and you are only eligible for one ticket per person. If you are a member who lives outside Berlin you can e-mail the club. Membership is €80 per season. Details here. You get a free scarf and a few other bits and bobs - chiefly, priority for away games.

Some people on Union forums have decried the fact that the club have not moved with the times and used the internet. Perhaps I am bias but there was something about having the morning off work and standing in the cold for 4 hours. I'm not sure what that something is. The sense of achievement? If you have membership and authorise someone to use the membership card on your behalf then they can buy you a ticket. "Vollmacht" is the German word for this. There was quite a bit of this going on.


Edit: Union have sold their full allocation. Ausverkauft is the German word for this.



When is the fixture?

Sky TV have not chosen their matches for the second half of the season yet. A farcical situation of buying a ticket for a match that could be on one of 4 days across the 2nd weekend in February. Not much help for international fans flying to Berlin for the game I know - unless you fancy coming Friday until Tuesday of course.

Can you buy tickets in the Hertha end yet?

Yes you can. These have been on sale for a while now. The game sold out in 2011 so I see no reason why it won't sell out again. (Edit - less than 5,000 tickets left according to Hertha site)

The official site is here. Block K.1 or Blocks 12 - 14.2 would be a good shout if you're looking to be near the Union faithful. (Edit - no tickets now available near Union fans.)

Is it a poisonous atmosphere like at other derby matches?

Certainly not. A heavy police presence, an alcohol ban in the stadium and away fans herded into the ground like cattle - yes. Bad atmosphere - no. Such points are always subjective of course but I can only go on my own experience. I called Hertha a few days before the game, and was lucky enough to get a ticket for the 2011 derby, as some players had returned their allocation. I was in the expensive seats and a few Union fans jumped up when we scored. Some even wore colours. I would not recommend this but I hope you take my point. This is not Newcastle v Sunderland or Celtic v Rangers. I've not been to a Merseyside derby but it's probably closer to that end of the spectrum than the Manchester derby. As ever, take care.

Traveling with the Union fans to the game

I was fortunate to do this in 2011. The U2 line runs from Alexanderplatz to the Olympiastadion and the journey is very lively. Well worth doing.

Pre-match drinking

Keep an eye on the blog and I'll be covering where and when to have a pre and post-match drink.

Accommodation

Numerous friends have stayed here and been very impressed. A hotel style hostel. Read a few of the reviews.

Where can I party that weekend?

Check out this website from Mogli Oak. They have their finger on the pulse of what is happening each weekend.

I love Berlin and want to move to Berlin!

Do it. For more about Berlin life check out Überlin website, Slow Travel Berlin website and this guide to moving to Berlin which is also hosted by the team behind Überlin. You can ask them anything!

UNVEU


Picture courtesy of Groundhopping etc

Videos from the famous 1-2 win in 2011






Videos courtesy of Groundhopping etc

Fans, fireworks and full-time

When German official Wolfgang Stark blew the final whistle in the Esprit Stadium last night, it was clearly the the beginning of an inquest that could be far reaching for German football. German football fans in particular - the night was a nadir for pitch invasions and Pyros. Both were ill timed, caused disruption to the ebb and flow of the game and became the talking points. A real shame in a two-legged relegation play-off that ended 4-3 to Fortuna and condemned Hertha to a second relegation in three seasons.

By way of comparison, the first-leg in Berlin had passed with little incident. I was in attendance last week and took a few snaps.

Dark clouds hover over the Olympiastadion, a pre-cursor of what we were to expect from this clash

I was on the back row so a superb view of the action

The Berlin bear flag partially obscured

Fortuna fans with a flare after the second goal much to the mirth of the Hertha faithful

A youth with a t-shirt that he can wear for all of next season as Hertha will again look to bounce back immediately

The tie was finely poised at 2-2 on the night and 4-3 to Fortuna on aggregate, when in the 6th minute of added on time, hundreds of Düsseldorf fans mistakenly thought that Stark had blown for full-time and invaded the pitch to celebrate. The fans had started to leave their seats as early as the 85th minute, forming a cordon of people around the advertising hordings, constantly being watched by police and stewards but not moved on.

The match had such an inordinate amount of injury time, not due to one moron as was the case at Manchester City at the weekend, but several. Hertha fans had launched fireworks on the pitch when they went 2-1 down on the night. Hertha fans clearly thought that the 4-2 aggregate scoreline was unassailable. Moments earlier they had lost their goal scorer and arguably their biggest threat in Ben-Hatira, who was booked for a challenge that you can't get away with in modern football. It was a second yellow but could have easily been a straight red in 2012. Ten years ago, a clever official would have given him a warning and the game would have been all the better for the decision.

Germany is very much the home of 'proper football' in terms of fans though. The matchday experience is envied by the English fans who have a sanitised version of the game. All topics for another day of course but last night will be a stick that the German FA can beat the pro-pyro lobby with. @valedave made a point on Twitter last night that the good work of the pro-pyro lobby has been undone in one night. In one moment. Not a moment of madness but one of spite and ill feeling. Hertha have felt aggrieved all season. A freakish amount of own goals being their latest gripe - one in three goals conceded of late have been own goals. That's football Hertha fans.

When you consider the way Manchester City came back from 2-1 down to score two vital goals to win the Premiership, it was telling that Hertha scored in the 85th minute. Could a side in blue score 2 goals in quick succession? Without all of the added on time this goal would have came at around 78 minutes giving them almost quarter of an hour to salvage their top tier status. Would they have found a goal in this time? Would they have been slightly less drained of emotion and spirit? They had to go across to their own fans midway through such a crucial game and urge them to calm down and stop throwing fireworks on to the pitch.

The game sparked to life after only 25 seconds when Düsseldorf's Beister hammered in a shot from just outside the penalty area. The sot curled away from the Hertha goalkeeper and the visitors could have let this early setback derail them. However, staying true to their sponsors (DB, who had laid on discounted travel) they charged forward at every opportunity, often leaving themselves exposed to the counter attack and long balls down the channels. Unfortunately, as with DB, the game would also feature delays.

Hertha's possession finally bore fruit when a free-kick was whipped in from the left and Ben-Hatira rose and powered his header in to the bottom corner past the hapless Ratajczak. At 1-1, Hertha needed to be aware that a second Fortuna goal would mean they needed 3 goals in normal time. However, another goal for Hertha would force the tie in to extra-time.

It was parity as the sides went in at half-time and Hertha coach, Otto Rehhagel, was clearly using every ounce of his forty years of managerial experience, by keeping the Fortuna players waiting, as Hertha took their time entering the field for the re-start. The half was only 10 minutes old when Ben-Harita received his marching orders and 4 minutes later Hertha were 4-2 down on aggregate.

The goal Hertha scored on 85 minutes was overshadowed by the scenes that followed. If the Fortuna fans had waited for the game to be finished before celebrating wildly on the pitch then they would have the moral high ground. As it is, there was talk of Hertha consulting lawyers on Twitter last night and at the very least the game will be remembered for the images below rather than the seven goal thriller and feast of football that it was. Two Berlin derby games next season though - can't wait.

Hertha fans pelt the playing surface with missiles causing a long delay

Fans ready to invade the pitch

The early pitch invasion. It could have far reaching consequences for the home side

Hertha fans boxed in by the riot police

Absurd scenes when you consider there was over a minute of added on time left

Players eventually leave the pitch after 100 minutes

Match starts again after 116 minutes - a goal for Hertha would have caused a riot

Fortuna fans celebrate - this time the final whistle had been blown

118 minutes until the game could be finished

Hertha players were camera shy last night. The rumour was that the Berlin teams press officer wanted to keep them out of the spotlight after such tense scenes

Es war ein Spiel, über das noch lange geredet werden wird – und der sportliche Ausgang stand trotz des Finalcharakters lange im Hintergrund.

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