Glatzel heading for the play-offs

Robert Glatzel scored yet another headed goal yesterday as Hamburg finished the regular season with a valuable 3-2 victory away at Hansa Rostock. The 28 year-old ex-City striker has so far netted 27 goals in 39 appearances for Hamburg since his move last summer. He ended up second in this season's list of Bundesliga 2 top scorers with 22 league goals.

Hamburg's victory yesterday meant they finished third in Bundesliga 2, ahead of fourth-placed SV Darmstadt 98 only on goal difference.

The top two, FC Shalke 04 and Werder Bremen, were promoted automatically to the Bundesliga, while Hamburg will now face a two-legged play-off against Hertha Berlin, who finished third-from-bottom of the German top flight. The first leg is at Berlin's Olympiastadion on Thursday evening (7:30pm) and it's live on Sky Sports Mix.

I've got a bit of a soft spot for Hertha Berlin. A few years ago, I was in Berlin for a week, and went to one of their home games. We had a great time - there is a huge fan-zone on one side of the stadium, with multiple food and drink areas, live music and a fun-fair. There were even classic cars on show. Very strange. They had a very good club shop - I bought a t-shirt - and lots of bars. I got the impression that the fans arrive early, and stay for hours, and make a day of it. The game itself wasn't that great, but the beer and hot-dogs were excellent. I hope they stay up.

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Originally Posted by tforturton

I've got a bit of a soft spot for Hertha Berlin. A few years ago, I was in Berlin for a week, and went to one of their home games. We had a great time - there is a huge fan-zone on one side of the stadium, with multiple food and drink areas, live music and a fun-fair. There were even classic cars on show. Very strange. They had a very good club shop - I bought a t-shirt - and lots of bars. I got the impression that the fans arrive early, and stay for hours, and make a day of it. The game itself wasn't that great, but the beer and hot-dogs were excellent. I hope they stay up.

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I've been to see Hertha Berlin play three times in recent years. Great fun. We sat in some of the best seats in the stadium on the first occasion. It was a really warm day and the view was excellent, but the game was a drab 0-0 and the atmosphere around us was lacking, so on the next two visits we sat up in the Ostkurve behind the goal with all of their nutters. Really cheap tickets and the atmosphere was phenomenal.

On each occasion our experiences around the stadium before the games mirrored yours - fantastic. On the second visit it snowed heavily during the first half and that was also an amazing experience - my girlfriend observed that it was like watching football in a snow globe. It was also amazing to see how quickly and efficiently the ground staff removed the snow from the pitch at half-time.

On our second visit we also went to see Tennis Borussia Berlin play a game in the fifth tier of the German league set-up on a Friday night. TB had been a Bundesliga team for a brief period in the Seventies. That was also a great experience, really good atmosphere despite the freezing conditions and a crowd of only around 800 or so.

I'm really split on the play-off game. I always look out for Hertha's scores, but the truth is they have been flirting with relegation for several years now and probably deserve to drop. A club the size of Hamburg should never be in the second division (they had 51,000 at their last home game when Glatzel scored both goals in a 2-1 win). It's a tough one, but I'll probably side with Hamburg this time, even though I've loved going to the Hertha games.

Seen Hertha play Bayern Munich there a few years back. As you’ve all said the ‘outside the stadium’ experience is fantastic, loved it.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

I'm really split on the play-off game. I always look out for Hertha's scores, but the truth is they have been flirting with relegation for several years now and probably deserve to drop. A club the size of Hamburg should never be in the second division (they had 51,000 at their last home game when Glatzel scored both goals in a 2-1 win). It's a tough one, but I'll probably side with Hamburg this time, even though I've loved going to the Hertha games.

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Ever since Lars Windhorst marched in with his multi-millions promising to make Hertha a team befitting of the capital, they seem to have become a complete mess from top to bottom. They could have saved themselves if they'd held on to a lead they had at Bielefeld a couple of weeks back, but conceded in the 91st. Now they face the play off and Hamburg seem to have all the momentum. Looking in from the outside it seems they only have themselves to blame. Matches are Thursday and Monday, I think?

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Originally Posted by Swiss Peter

Ever since Lars Windhorst marched in with his multi-millions promising to make Hertha a team befitting of the capital, they seem to have become a complete mess from top to bottom. They could have saved themselves if they'd held on to a lead they had at Bielefeld a couple of weeks back, but conceded in the 91st. Now they face the play off and Hamburg seem to have all the momentum. Looking in from the outside it seems they only have themselves to blame. Matches are Thursday and Monday, I think?

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Didn't get in in time to edit the above, but this is a good summary if anyone is interested.

https://www.dw.com/en/hertha-berlins...ure/a-61426796

Been following the league closely all season. Very disappointed that St Pauli finished so poorly. They should have got into the playoff spot at the very least but 3 points from the 6 games before the final match killed them. Frustrating thing was that they were ahead in a few of those games untill the later stages. Glad that Bremen and Schalke went up though, big clubs with liberal fan bases. Hope Hertha win the playoff game against HSV purely for selfish reasons as I'm planning to go to the Hamburg derby next season. On another former City striker related subject, Burgstaller is out of contract at St Pauli. Could do a lot worse as they say.

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Originally Posted by Harry Lime

Been following the league closely all season. Very disappointed that St Pauli finished so poorly. They should have got into the playoff spot at the very least but 3 points from the 6 games before the final match killed them. Frustrating thing was that they were ahead in a few of those games untill the later stages. Glad that Bremen and Schalke went up though, big clubs with liberal fan bases. Hope Hertha win the playoff game against HSV purely for selfish reasons as I'm planning to go to the Hamburg derby next season. On another former City striker related subject, Burgstaller is out of contract at St Pauli. Could do a lot worse as they say.

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I was at a couple of those closing games. Burgstaller played in one of them - against Darmstadt - and in all honesty didn't look great - although it wasn't a great team performance generally. Yes, pity they dipped so badly - at the start of the Darmstadt game they were still third and had been seen match day 6!

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Originally Posted by Swiss Peter

I was at a couple of those closing games. Burgstaller played in one of them - against Darmstadt - and in all honesty didn't look great - although it wasn't a great team performance generally. Yes, pity they dipped so badly - at the start of the Darmstadt game they were still third and had been seen match day 6!

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The goals seemed to dry up as the season went on for Burgstaller. Yep top 3 for the vast majority of the season and top until the final month, very disappointing. Out of interest how easy is it to get tickets at the Millerntor these days? I get the impression a lot of tourist fans make it quite hard

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Originally Posted by Harry Lime

The goals seemed to dry up as the season went on for Burgstaller. Yep top 3 for the vast majority of the season and top until the final month, very disappointing. Out of interest how easy is it to get tickets at the Millerntor these days? I get the impression a lot of tourist fans make it quite hard

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It's not that easy. I got one by going to the stadium to see if they had any returns the first time. Have sent a PM.

Bump -

Hertha v Hamburg is just about to kick off. It's live on Sky Sports Mix. Glatzel starts.

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Originally Posted by The Bloop

Bump -

Hertha v Hamburg is just about to kick off. It's live on Sky Sports Mix. Glatzel starts.

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Thanks for that, I’ll have a look at it.

HSV much the better team I thought. Glatzel didn’t have much of an influence on the game, but good result.

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Originally Posted by bluesp

HSV much the better team I thought. Glatzel didn’t have much of an influence on the game, but good result.

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Agreed, thought they should have won by more than 1-0 and it’s hard to see how they can cock it up this time after taking longer to get out of Bundesliga 2 than they must have expected. Pleased for Glatzel, who had the misfortune to be a footballer, so was unsuited to the Cardiff City of the early 2020’s, but I can’t be for Hamburg who I still haven’t forgiven for what they did fifty four years ago.

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Agreed, thought they should have won by more than 1-0 and it’s hard to see how they can cock it up this time after taking longer to get out of Bundesliga 2 than they must have expected. Pleased for Glatzel, who had the misfortune to be a footballer, so was unsuited to the Cardiff City of the early 2020’s, but I can’t be for Hamburg who I still haven’t forgiven for what they did fifty four years ago.

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:hehe: :hehe: they’ll be a few turning to Google now!

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Originally Posted by Des Parrot

:hehe: :hehe: they’ll be a few turning to Google now!

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:hehe:

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Originally Posted by Des Parrot

:hehe: :hehe: they’ll be a few turning to Google now!

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The use of ‘other’ is a very canny move to ward off any abuse.:hehe:

Watched some of the game and couldn't believe how lethargic Hertha were. It was like watching us against Swansea where one team seemed to want it more.

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Originally Posted by Harry Lime

Watched some of the game and couldn't believe how lethargic Hertha were. It was like watching us against Swansea where one team seemed to want it more.

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Agreed - I thought Hertha were really poor. Leaving aside the obvious tension of the situation, the match as a whole did nothing to change my view that (other than at the very top) the standard of football in the Bundesliga is comparatively weak.

Hertha winning the away leg 2-0, with about fifteen minutes to go. Live on YouTube, if anyone is interested....

Strange, they've added a couple of lines to the centre circle, to make a peace sign. Not seen that before (at a 'proper' game).

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Originally Posted by tforturton

Hertha winning the away leg 2-0, with about fifteen minutes to go. Live on YouTube, if anyone is interested....

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Watching on live score, with my son texting me details. (I'm in a rented place in Pembs with no sky :frown:). Be amazed if Hertha pull this off.

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Originally Posted by Swiss Peter

Watching on live score, with my son texting me details. (I'm in a rented place in Pembs with no sky :frown:). Be amazed if Hertha pull this off.

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Well they did.

Hertha win 2-1 over two legs, and so stay in the Bundesliga 1.
Glatzel didn't seem to contribute much, and Hamburg just didn't turn up on the night.