Six goals in the mark of Hertha BSC!

A game that could have given the Berlin Bundesliga club new hope in the relegation battle with a passionate performance over an hour ended in a debacle.

Highest home defeat this season, low blow in an already highly critical phase with a corona outbreak, plus the difficult opponents to come.

"We're not complaining, we're moving forward positively," emphasized Hertha manager Fredi Bobic.

And coach Tayfun Korkut, whom Bobic brought in as a rescuer at the end of November, said: "Of course it's not good for us, but it won't knock us out."

Hertha needs "tough qualities": It was the scene that initiated the debacle for Hertha.

Marc Oliver Kempf's wrestling performance against Leipzig's Christopher Nkunku.

The man-decker, brought in in winter and designated as the new chief of defence, caused the penalty after an hour and also saw the red card.

Korkut emphasized that he did not want to make accusations against Kempf.

But it was the moment that separated the game into two parts.

With the penalty, Leipzig took a 2-1 lead – the rest was silence from Berlin's point of view.

"We have to swallow the result," said Korkut: "But we also have to develop resilience."

Despite all the efforts of those responsible to emphasize the positive approaches in the game of Berlin, the team has to score points.

0: 4 against Mainz, 1: 4 against Bayern, 1: 2 at the bottom of the table Fürth, 1: 6 against RB.

Bitter bankruptcies are also piling up under Korkut.

With the Turk, Hertha got nine points from ten games, under predecessor Pal Dardai it was still 14 points from 13 games.

The lead over the relegation rank is one point - and the remaining program of the capital club is not without: In Freiburg, Leverkusen and Dortmund, among other things, you still have to compete.

"That's the important thing"

Six players were added shortly before the game against Leipzig, eight were not available to Korkut due to positive corona findings.

They were not far from applying for a game transfer, said Bobic.

Of players who fall under the category of seasoned professionals, only two sat on the bench.

The problem will now also be that orderly training with around 25 percent of the Hertha squad in quarantine is difficult.

In addition, Kempf will also be missing in the next game at strong sixth-placed SC Freiburg after his red card.

Fredi Bobic did not want to respond too much to the sharp criticism from investor Lars Windhorst, who once coined the title "Big City Club" at the beginning of his commitment.

"Because he doesn't have to play football, it's all okay," said the Hertha manager on the DAZN streaming service.

"I'm going to focus on the sport first.

That's the important thing.” But Windhorst is unlikely to be mollified by a good 60 minutes if Hertha ended up with the next hefty bankruptcy.

He recently described his investment of 375 million euros ("from today's perspective yes, unfortunately") as a mistake.

There was a lot of laughter among the people of Leipzig, however, and the good mood in the traditional circle after the game could not be overlooked.

And everyone was happy, not just those who played a key role in the 6-1 win against Hertha in Berlin's Olympic Stadium.

This is exactly what makes RB Leipzig so strong, so valuable, so successful at the moment.

"It's important that with the size of our squad, we get a mentality that everyone grants everyone success.

It's just good," said coach Domenico Tedesco.

Especially in a phase of great stress.

Tedesco brought on seven new players 72 hours after Thursday night's 2-2 win at home to Real Sociedad San Sebastian in the Europa League semi-finals first leg.

Maybe he'll swap back again, he said with a view to the second leg next Friday with the Spaniards.

With the highest away win this season, the preparation for the next confrontation with the minimalists and five-man defense chain specialists should be regarded as highly successful.

Also because the players who came in not only fit in, but shaped the further course of the game.

"The players who came on made a huge impact," said 1-0 goal scorer Benjamin Henrichs.

“We are developing enormously as a team.

Everyone is in top form at the moment,” said 6-1 goalscorer Yussuf Poulsen.

They are happy to have such a squad in which many players only need 20 minutes to perform so well.

Nkunku only needed four minutes to turn the game around and to be able to follow the final phase from the bench in a good mood.

It was the 24-year-old Frenchman who was fouled in the penalty area, for which Kempf saw the red card and RB received a penalty.

Transformer: Nkunku.

And only a little later he also made it 3:1.

Nkunku's 13th goal of the season.

But above all his sixth in the sixth championship game this year.

"He should just keep going like this," said teammate Henrichs: "Christo is always in a good mood, everyone gets along with him and is happy for him." And together everyone was happy about the 6:1 and the consolidated fourth place in the table.