If you’re looking for a match that feels like two middleweight fighters both desperate to avoid the canvas, Hertha BSC hosting Fortuna Düsseldorf at the Olympiastadion is your Saturday night pay-per-view. Go ahead, cue up the Rocky montage music, but instead of training in snow, it’s a couple of clubs trying not to slip on their own banana peels in the mid-table mud of the 2. Bundesliga. Seriously, if you love the drama of a relegation dogfight—minus the actual panic (for now)—this is your kind of chaos.
We’re only nine rounds into the season and already both Hertha and Fortuna are walking that anxiety tightrope, separated by a single, precious point in the standings. Hertha, sitting in eighth with 11 points, can’t decide if they want to party with the promotion hopefuls or get sucked down among the basement dwellers. Düsseldorf, on the other hand, are in 14th with 10 points—close enough to Hertha to feel optimistic, but just one banana peel away from disaster. As a neutral, you can’t ask for more—stakes are everywhere, nerves are fraying, and every stray pass feels like it could tip the whole season.
Let’s talk form, which for both teams is that kind of up-and-down affair that would get you nowhere on The Bachelor. Hertha’s recent run is a sitcom in itself—WLWWL—so they’re either devastating or MIA week to week, scoring three wins and two losses in their last five. They’ve had some absolute bangers: 3-0 away at Nürnberg, same story at Hannover. Then they turn around and lose 2-3 at Bochum, defending like someone trying to swat flies with a pool noodle. The positive? They’ve found goals from all over. Marten Winkler is quietly playing his way into a starring role—think Jon Snow after finally picking up Longclaw—while Dawid Kownacki and Sebastian Grønning have been chipping in with crucial goals.
But don’t get too excited—Hertha’s averaging just 0.8 goals per game in their last ten. That’s like promising you’re going to binge a show and then only making it halfway through the first episode before falling asleep. It’s not exactly the firepower to scare the league, but when it clicks, it sizzles.
Now, Fortuna Düsseldorf are basically Hertha’s mirror universe doppelganger this year: also three wins in nine, also averaging a measly 0.8 goals per game, and also as unpredictable as an M. Night Shyamalan twist. They’re coming off two straight losses—2-3 at home to Nürnberg, then 1-2 to Braunschweig—which is about as comforting as hearing the “Red Wedding” music start up in Game of Thrones. The highlights? Tim Christopher Oberdorf netting early at Bochum to steal a win, and the midfield pairing of Cédric Itten and Florent Muslija showing flashes of actual chemistry.
What does all this set up for the Olympiastadion? A tug-of-war where both teams are desperate to get a foothold and kickstart their seasons. Tactically, Hertha will be banking on controlling the midfield, relying on Michaël Cuisance to be the metronome. This is their territory, the big stadium, the expectations, the ghosts of past glories—think of them as the slightly fallen houses of Westeros, still clinging to the banners but needing a big win to remind everyone of their pedigree. If Cuisance can dictate play and Winkler or Grønning find space, Hertha can turn the screw and exploit Düsseldorf’s habit of leaving the back door wide open.
But Fortuna are sneaky. Coach Christian Preußer has them set up to pounce in transition—think of those thieves in every heist movie who wait until the hero’s back is turned. If Hertha get too cute, Düsseldorf’s quick break, with Itten or Oberdorf leading the charge, means they can smash and grab a goal while the hosts are still arguing over who lost their mark. And if the away side can frustrate Hertha and the Olympiastadion crowd starts getting restless (which could happen by the third misplaced pass), it’s anybody’s ballgame.
There’s also a whiff of “last chance saloon” energy on the touchlines. You can only go so long with inconsistent results before the suits upstairs start thinking about new ideas—and we all know what that means in football: the dreaded vote of confidence press release. Lose here, and the pressure doesn’t just simmer, it boils.
Key battle? Watch the midfield. Whoever takes control—Cuisance for Hertha, Muslija for Fortuna—will dictate whether this match breaks wide open or devolves into a slog. Winkler versus Oberdorf is your under-the-radar duel—the guy who finds space in those broken moments could break this open.
So what are we calling? The bookies nudge Hertha as slight favorites, thanks to home advantage and a slightly less terrifying run of form. But this isn’t one of those walkover picks. This is March Madness-level unpredictable—expect drama, a couple of wild swings, and maybe that one moment that gets replayed on highlight shows with the “Yakety Sax” soundtrack underneath. The Olympiastadion lights will be on, the stakes are real, and with both these teams just one spark away from ignition or implosion, it’s the type of 2. Bundesliga match where you grab a beer, settle in, and refuse to change the channel—even if your team is driving you nuts.
Sometimes mid-table obscurity is where all the best chaos happens.