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Sami Khedira is in derby stress.
He knows it from Madrid: Real against Atlético.
He knows it from Turin: Juventus Turin against FC.
On his 34th birthday, the well-traveled world champion can look forward to a new derby experience: Union versus Hertha - the fight for (more than) the Berlin city championship.
In time, Khedira is fit again after his calf injury and three games forced break.
"I will definitely take him with me," said coach Pal Dardai with a view to the game this Sunday evening (6 pm, in the sports ticker of the WELT).
Khedira, who quickly wished his Juventus friends good luck for their derby on Saturday via social networks, seems to be good and important for the Herthaners' indoor and cabin climate.
A type of leader that the club, which is fighting against relegation, was missing especially on the pitch.
Dardai left it open whether and when Khedira, who played his last derby to date in November 2019 and won 1-0 with Juventus against FC Turin, will be allowed to step onto the lawn in the An der Alten Försterei stadium during the season.
The injury threw the midfielder back.
The fact that Hertha won two of the three games during Khedira's forced break shows that the team under coach Dardai is more stable overall.
Khedira and Kruse at the center of their clubs
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And she wants the derby hat trick.
Hertha won the last two city duels, both times in the Olympic Stadium.
In Köpenick, they suffered a 1-0 defeat at the first Bundesliga derby in November 2019, when Khedira was still playing at Juventus.
It also means that in the ranks of the Union, there is one person in particular who has not yet enjoyed a victory in the prestigious and charged capital city duel: Max Kruse.
One that also caught the eye of trend researcher Erik Wenzel.
“He has a certain glamor factor, is a bit puzzling, but plays football incredibly well,” said the 54-year-old to the “Tagesspiegel” on Saturday.
Kruse is a year younger than Khedira, Kruse was also a national player, but in contrast to the 77 games by Khedira, he only made 14 appearances.
He was not nominated for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil by Joachim Löw, and less than three years after his debut in the national team, Kruse's career there came to an abrupt end.
“Max has behaved unprofessionally once more.
I don't accept that, ”said Löw in March 2016. A few months earlier, Kruse scored the 2-1 winner in the last European Championship qualifier against Georgia.
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Again and again Kruse made headlines outside the field, his club portfolio ranges from Werder Bremen, FC St. Pauli, SC Freiburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, VfL Wolfsburg and Fenerbahce Istanbul to Union Berlin.
His successes: German Super Cup winner 2015/2016 with Wolfsburg.
In Köpenick, Kruse can't be denied a casual saying, he rumbles on social networks.
But Kruse is there on the pitch - and how.
Kruse scored a quarter (10) of the Unioner's 40 goals so far this season.
And that despite the fact that the offensive man signed in August was out for weeks after an injury in the derby first leg and had not played twelve games.
“He has ideas, he has creativity,” praised his trainer Urs Fischer.
But he has not yet won a derby in Berlin - just like Khedira.
Union stands where Hertha thought she was
With a view to the prestige duel, Hertha coach Dardai was “very satisfied”, he was “a happy person”, everything “went perfectly for the weekend”, he said.
Dardai was not yet in office in the 3-1 first leg win, his counterpart Urs Fischer was.
First of all, he's happy to even meet and get to know the Hertha coach.
For both coaches and both teams there are more than sober three points: Hertha is playing against relegation, Union is fighting for a European cup spot in its second season in the Bundesliga.
Union and Hertha - these are also the two football worlds in the capital.
The Eiserne are considered a cult club, Hertha has been struggling with image, aspiration and reality for years.
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The fact that the Unioners are now also where the Herthaners actually think they are, makes the derby a bit more piquant and explosive.
"We know that it will be complicated for us to stand in front of Union at the end of the day," said sports director Arne Friedrich - the Köpenicker have 14 points more before the 27th matchday.
The appearances in March make the blue-whites courageous and optimistic.
Above all, the 3-0 lead against Bayer 04 Leverkusen before the international break was good - but the one-point advantage over the relegation place is not a cushion.
With the game against Union there is now a "thick board", as Friedrich puts it.
The hosts are unbeaten for twelve home games in a row, and the 5-2 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt before the break was also a lesson for the Unionern.
They shouldn't get involved in an open exchange of blows, said Fischer.
The Swiss wanted to be as usual, but certainly not to accept a challenge before this game.
"You'd rather be saying things after a derby than having to listen to them," he said.
The fact that he lost 3-1 in the first leg with his professionals still worries him.
That was still in their heads, he said: "I think it's a good thing that we still have a little something to make up for."
The fact that the duel has to take place in the otherwise atmospheric Iron Stadium without spectators due to the corona pandemic hardly reduces the prestige duel, even if the fans would be missing, especially in a derby, said Fischer.
The importance of the game is also known to those professionals who are not from the area or Germany.
"It's a special game, there are emotions involved, there is rivalry," emphasized Fischer.
Especially in view of the constellation with the Unionern in seventh place and Hertha in 14th place. “That's crazy.
Nobody would have thought that before the season, "said Union's former captain and club icon Torsten Mattuschka recently in an interview with" Bild ".
If Hertha won the derby, “they can make up for a lot of what has gone wrong so far.
That's why it would be all the better if we win.
Then we could have a big mouth, ”said Mattuschka.