One of the biggest derbies in the Bundesliga kicked off this weekends action, with Hertha Berlin taking on Union Berlin at an empty Olympiastadion. Hertha Berlin as a whole have had a very disappointing season, flirting just above the relegation zone for the majority of the season, and sacking two managers. In their debut season in the Bundesliga, Union are operating at lower expectations but have been an excellent addition to the league, and have largely outperformed their rivals all season.
Hertha however, are on the up at this moment in time, with the appointment of experienced manager Bruno Labbadia seemingly help to inspire Hertha to a 3-0 away win over Hoffenheim last week. Labbadia immediately seems to have inputted some of his tactical plans in his short time in charge, and this game added further credit to this, with Hertha putting on an excellent display in a 4-0 rout. In this tactical analysis, we will assess how Hertha were able to dominate the game and create multiple goal-scoring opportunities, and also take a look at Unions tactics and defensive approach, and assess what went wrong.
Lineups
Union Berlin lined up in their fairly common 5-4-1 formation which they sued against Bayern Munich, in which they sat deep and looked to frustrate Hertha before hurting them in transitions. Hertha used a 4-2-3-1, with the two central midfielders Per Skjelbred and Marko Grujićs positioning a particularly interesting facet in Herthas diverse attacking structure.
Union press
Union had 42% possession in the game, a stat which is largely misleading as we can see below, with Union being allowed more possession of the ball once Hertha had scored their third goal. In general, Union sat in a mid to deep block, and didnt put pressure on Herthas two centre backs until they were around ten yards from Unions half.
Union pressed in their 5-4-1 for 65 mi
