When the police marched up in a long chain after the final whistle and first sealed off the corner with the Hertha fans and then the north stand where the Hamburger SV supporters were standing, the scene took on a sinister quality.

But the feared storming of space by both sides did not materialize.

If you consider what is fundamentally at stake in the dramatic format "Relegation" and if you consider the course of this second meeting, which was so disappointing from a Hamburg point of view, it was gratifying that on the one hand the 5000 happy and very loud fans from Berlin celebrated their team, on the other hand, the Hamburg appendix only said "thank you" noisily for their commitment up to the last minute.

From what you saw, the way the two teams treated each other on this warm Monday evening was characterized by respect and fairness;

Hertha's Lucas Tousart comforted every person with the HSV rhombus on their chest who came in his way after the game.

But maybe that was just pure relief that his yellow-red card in injury time was no longer relevant.

As a result, Hertha BSC survived the six minutes that referee Deniz Aytekin gave as an encore, sometimes with ten players, fending off one high ball after the next without any problems and then celebrating a 2-0 win that secured them a place in the first Bundesliga.

"We acted as a team today and hardly made any mistakes," said sporting director Fredi Bobic, "there was passion in it.

I'm proud of how we solved it."

Magath trusts in Boateng

Goals from Dedryck Boyata with a head after a corner by Marvin Plattenhardt in the 4th minute and Plattenhardt himself with a free kick into the far corner (63rd) gave Hertha the success they needed with a two-goal lead after they lost the first leg on Thursday 0 :1 had lost.

After the erratic presentation four days ago, coach Felix Magath had somehow gotten his team sharp.

The Berliners appeared as a fully functional team in the Volksparkstadion, which was sold out with 55,000 spectators, which was also due to the fact that Magath had Kevin-Prince Boateng and Santiago Ascacibar in midfield, unlike on Thursday.

The veteran and the Argentinian helped Hertha to achieve significantly more stability.

Striker Stevan Jovetic was also a good choice in the starting XI.

Boateng, who grew up in Berlin, later reported that Magath had asked him who should play alongside him: "We made the line-up together.

I have to say he is a sensational coach with a lot of sensitivity.

He breathed life back into us.

We came here and knew we'd stay in the league.” Magath followed the game at “his” HSV almost motionless in front of the bench for a long time and saw how his moves worked out.

He didn't know how well trained Boateng was, he later said, and therefore "saved" him for the second game: "Because that was our final."