Felix Magath is not suspected of giving his players too much free time.

The footballers at Hertha BSC have also been able to see this for themselves in recent weeks.

All the more surprising was the announcement that the ball would not start rolling again on the training ground for the pros until Wednesday.

Two days off, when was that last?

But Magath wouldn't be Magath if he had let the team go into the short break with kind words.

The coach grumbled – despite the 2-0 win in the all-important duel with VfB Stuttgart.

"Lucky Victory"

This was because Magath vehemently resisted the general view that this victory was in any way sovereign or even deserved.

“We started well for five minutes.

I can't say why we then lapsed into passivity.

In the end it was a lucky win against VfB, who were the better team,” said Magath.

That's an excellent subject for discussion, as the Stuttgarters didn't manage to create a reasonable scoring opportunity for the 90 minutes, despite their visual superiority.

And anyway.

Isn't Hertha in a position where it's pointless to debate style issues?

By winning against their direct competitor, the Berliners increased the gap to the Stuttgarters, who were on the relegation place, to four points.

With only three games left, that's a small cushion, but Magath didn't want to accept that either.

“We have improved our situation, but it is still serious.

Our goal is to stay up in the league, and that's still at risk," said Hertha's coach.

From a purely mathematical point of view, that may be true, but as far as the so-called momentum is concerned, the Berliners are tending in the right direction, unlike Stuttgart or Bielefeld.

Hertha has taken six points from the two games against Augsburg and Stuttgart, who are also threatened with relegation.

It was about nothing else.

Before the trip to Augsburg, it was clear that the upcoming three matches will largely determine which league Hertha BSC will be in from the summer.

Measured against the season so far, it is amazing how convincingly the team performed in these games, which were so important for them.

The win against Augsburg was just as deserved as the one against Stuttgart, even if Magath didn't want to represent that, at least to the outside world.

Hertha started with a lot of momentum, Davie Selke heaved the ball into the goal after just five minutes.

After that, VfB struggled against the Berliners, rarely came into dangerous areas and conceded the second goal on the break in added time.

There is little more to say about this game, it was so unappealing.

In the end there were three vital points for Hertha and the realization that Magath had seen enough in his short time to give the warning.

He countered possible exuberance in the environment in view of the two victories with a raised index finger.

"I don't know who should be euphoric after the game at Hertha," he said.

Team at a distance from the fans

He doesn't have to worry about parts of the fans in this regard anyway.

The atmosphere between Ultras and team remains tense.

As in Augsburg, the players refrained from going into the curve against Stuttgart.

An understandable reaction for Magath in view of the events after the game against city rivals Union.

After the 4-1 defeat, some fans harassed the players and asked them to put their jerseys on the ground as a sign that they weren't worthy.

"I think that's okay"

"They didn't agree after the action in the derby and demonstrated that.

I think that's okay," said Magath, who then expressed the hope that "in the coming days we'll get the two groups closer again so that we can fight together again against relegation in the next home game against Mainz."

Ideally, that is no longer necessary, because the important away game in Bielefeld is ahead of Mainz.

Another success in the penultimate, and Hertha would have avoided direct relegation.

Should Stuttgart also lose against Wolfsburg, staying in the class would be perfect.

But Magath didn't want to think that far, preferring to see the risk behind the opportunity.

"We mustn't lose in Bielefeld, otherwise we'll be back in the middle of a relegation battle," he said.

So much sober realism was rare at Hertha BSC.