The weekend's Bundesliga action kicks off on Friday night when two sides experiencing very different fortunes this season go head -to-head. Despite last week's 5-0 battering at the hands of free-scoring Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hertha BSC are sitting in third place in the table and lead the way in the battle to secure one of the two Champions League spots up for grabs behind runaway leaders Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund. By contrast, Hannover 96's hopes of survival have been all but written off by most fans. With a ten-point gap separating the league's bottom side and the relegation play-off place, they need nothing short of a miracle in the final six matchdays of the season if they are to have any hope of playing top-division football next year.
Hannover will take optimism from their recent record in the capital, having won all of their last three games away to Hertha without conceding a single goal. However, Hertha's recent home form tells a different story. They've won six and drawn three of their last nine games in front of their own fans, their best unbeaten run at the Olympiastadion since the 2008/09 season, when they won ten matches on the bounce. Their record under the floodlights is similarly impressive, going unbeaten in their last seven Bundesliga games on Friday nights. Their last such defeat came against tonight's opponents Hannover 96 in November 2014. A similar result for the league's whipping boys tonight would be a small step in the right direction as they look to apply the brakes on their steady slide into the 2nd Bundesliga. They have lost a whopping 13 of their last 14 matches, scoring just four times in their last 13.
The weekend's Bundesliga action kicks off on Friday night when two sides experiencing very different fortunes this season go head -to-head. Despite last week's 5-0 battering at the hands of free-scoring Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hertha BSC are sitting in third place in the table and lead the way in the battle to secure one of the two Champions League spots up for grabs behind runaway leaders Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund. By contrast, Hannover 96's hopes of survival have been all but written off by most fans. With a ten-point gap separating the league's bottom side and the relegation play-off place, they need nothing short of a miracle in the final six matchdays of the season if they are to have any hope of playing top-division football next year.
Hannover will take optimism from their recent record in the capital, having won all of their last three games away to Hertha without conceding a single goal. However, Hertha's recent home form tells a different story. They've won six and drawn three of their last nine games in front of their own fans, their best unbeaten run at the Olympiastadion since the 2008/09 season, when they won ten matches on the bounce. Their record under the floodlights is similarly impressive, going unbeaten in their last seven Bundesliga games on Friday nights. Their last such defeat came against tonight's opponents Hannover 96 in November 2014. A similar result for the league's whipping boys tonight would be a small step in the right direction as they look to apply the brakes on their steady slide into the 2nd Bundesliga. They have lost a whopping 13 of their last 14 matches, scoring just four times in their last 13.
