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FAlex Magath wished for a sip of water for his voice and then spoke calmly and confidently about Hertha’s important game at FC Augsburg. The 68-year-old said on Friday that the FCA was in a good mood ahead of the game on Saturday (3:30pm/Sky). “However, the quality is not quite as high as Union, which is why I see a game that we can definitely play and participate in.” The coach said the painful 1:4 derby match against Union was played by the team and was suspended.

However, Magath has always emphasized in the past few weeks that the team wants it, for example to pay tribute to the commitment in training. But even with frank criticism, he did not save after the defeats to Leverkusen and Köppenker. A team at Westend has developed over a long period of time, “but it’s not a team,” the 68-year-old told Bild TV after the derby.

However, it seems that the professionals are trying to preserve the team spirit: at the request of the team, they would eat together during the week and watch the Atletico Madrid Champions League match against Manchester City. “The whole evening was of a high quality,” Magat said.

But now that spirit must be shown again more often on the pitch in the Bundesliga. Considering the fact that Hertha did not recover from the 1:2 delay against Union, Magath noted the lack of outstanding players on Sky: “The only one is Prince Boateng, but he cannot play 90 minutes due to his injuries.”

Magat now took command of Captain Dedrick Boyata in particular. The coach said Boyata is “an excellent player of high quality and has what it takes to be the decisive player on this team”. “He was very shy about it, but of course I hope he feels addressed.”

He also hopes for the return of Niklas Stark and above all Marvin Platnhardt. In the 3-0 win over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the first game after Magath’s appointment, all three goals were scored by the 30-year-old’s standards. You can’t get too many dangerous moves in front of goal, said Magath. “In this respect, Platt is now a beacon of hope for us, because her standards are exceptionally good.”

The capital club still has five matches to avoid the seventh relegation in the club’s history. After the three matches against teams from the upper region of the table after Magath’s appointment, the crucial weeks have now begun in Augsburg. Then at home against Stuttgart and then against Bielefeld.

The second half of the season in Berlin gives little hope: Hertha has won one game and only five points since the start of the year. The momentary optimism evaporated after the start of Magath.

And so he finally soured his voice with an urgent appeal to the Hertha fans, who gave strong support to the team against Al Ittihad on the field. After the match, part of the ultras asked the professionals to take off their shirts, which again caused dissatisfaction. “In our situation we need support now. There is no point in blaming the players for not being able to do it or not doing it.” “If we don’t support these players now, it will be very difficult.”