Bundesliga
Klinsmann: "It's almost impossible to stop Bayern"
Hertha Berlin coach Jürgen Klinsmann believes "it's almost impossible to stop Bayern Munich" once they get into their rhythm, after witnessing his side slip to a 4-0 home defeat on Sunday.
The Old Lady had enjoyed a mini revival under the 55-year-old prior to the winter break, earning victories over Bayer Leverkusen and Freiburg and creditable draws against Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Mönchengladbach to give them a justified sense of optimism ahead of their first competitive outing of 2020.
And Hertha initially held their own in a scoreless first half at the Olympiastadion, but were undone by four second-half goals to leave them just two points above the relegation zone.
Watch: Klinsmann: "Bayern are almost impossible to stop"
"Being 2-0 down against Bayern Munich is super difficult because they have so much quality in their team," the former Bayern and USMNT boss told bundesliga.com after the final whistle, having seen Robert Lewandowski’s penalty double the visitors' lead following Thomas Müller's opener.
"They play with one or two touches in midfield, they play combination football and get in a flow. To stop that flow is almost impossible, especially when you're a team that's fighting relegation and does not have the confidence to say: 'OK we're going to come back now and score three goals against them'. This is not the case right now."
That midfield interplay was nowhere more evident than in Thiago's goal to put the visitors 3-0 up, when Leon Goretzka’s slide-rule pass dissected the home defence, allowing the Spain international to rifle in his first goal of the season. It was soon followed by an Ivan Perisic header, again after neat build-up in the middle, to seal Bayern's win.
"We were in the game in the first period, were compact at the back and had a few chances," continued Klinsmann. "Their first goal opened the match up as we wanted to increase the pressure after that […] But Bayern were superb. We don't necessarily need to pick up points against the top teams, but we do against the teams around us. That's what we'll work on now."
That could mean a tough couple of weeks for Hertha, who face top-six contenders Wolfsburg and Schalke next, before what looks to be a defining period of the season for them with a run of games against fellow strugglers Mainz, Paderborn, Cologne, Fortuna Düsseldorf and Werder Bremen.