Hertha BSC vs 1. FC Union Berlin
German DFB Pokal, Round of 16
Hertha vs 1. FC Union
German DFB Pokal, Round of 16
Union target progress at the Olympic Stadium
Match preview
1. FC Union Berlin will head to city rivals Hertha on Wednesday night (20:45) with a place in the last eight of the DFB Pokal on the line.
Review — The last match
Grischa Prömel scored his third goal in two matches as 1. FC Union Berlin came from behind to beat Hoffenheim 2-1 at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. Urs Fischer handed a debut for Dominique Heintz in defence following the departure of Marvin Friedrich to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the week. Both Levin Öztunali and Andreas Voglsammer held their starting positions off the back of the 2-2 draw in Leverkusen. Hoffenheim were on a seven-game unbeaten run heading into Saturday's encounter and the away side took the lead with Timo Baumgartl turning the ball into the net after 16 minutes. Voglsammer headed in the equaliser about four minutes later. The second half saw Union dominate and the substitution of Sheraldo Becker turned the screw for the Köpenick club. Becker headed wide before helping to set up Max Kruse whose shot came off the bar and was turned in by Prömel to secure all three points.
Hertha — Opposition Report
Hertha have come through two previous DFB Pokal rounds so far. The Old Lady beat Meppen in Round 1 before seeing off Preußen Münster in Round 2. But the Bundesliga has been a harder fight for Tayfun Korkut's men who are 13th in the league. Wins over Bielefeld and Dortmund have helped Hertha's plight following disappointing home results at the Olympic Stadium against 1. FC Köln, Augsburg and Bayer Leverkusen.
Hertha — The coach's view
"One of us is going out. That's how it works in Cup games. No, it's a hard away game at Hertha. They are doing well. The last six games: two wins, two draws, two defeats. Very equal. For me, they made a stable impression, how they are implementing some of the new ideas of the coach. We would do well to focus on us. There are things to improve on the first two games, as spoken. We know our record at the Olympic Stadium. It's on us to make sure we go a round further," said Fischer.
Personnel
Ricky van Drongelen and Pawel Wszolek are in isolation at the moment. Laurenz Dehl is recovering from his injury and has trained a small amount with the squad. Urs Fischer confirmed there was a full squad otherwise available for Wednesday's match.
Service
The match goes ahead at the Olympic Stadium under 2G-Plus conditions with 2000 fans in attendance in total.
The quarter-final matches will go ahead on 1 and 2 March, 2022.