You must go back to 1931, to find the last time Hertha Berlin won the Bundesliga title. It was the second season in succession they won the title and little did they know at the time, it was going to be their last, at least for 85 years. In fact, the only league titles Hertha have won since 1931, have come in winning promotion back to the Bundesliga, following relegation, the most recent of which came in 2013.
Having finished 4th in the Bundesliga in the 2008/09 season, Hertha have struggled and having finished 18th the following season, were relegated. The club from the German capital bounced straight back, winning promotion as 2. Bundesliga winners but went straight back down, by finishing 16th in the Bundesliga table. Again, it did not take long for Hertha to return to the top flight, doing so at the first time of asking and this time they remained in the Bundesliga, finishing 11th in 2013/14.
The following season was another struggle and Hertha finished just above the relegation zone, in 15th place, level on points with Hamburg, who were forced to play a relegation play-off. Having said that, things picked up in 2015/16, with Hertha finishing 7th and establishing themselves in the Bundesliga.
This season, things are going well at the Olympiastadion and having completed week 8 of the season, Hertha find themselves in third place in the table, just 3 points off leaders Bayern Munich. Hertha’s only defeat in the league, came at the hands of the defending champions in Munich but otherwise, Hertha have been very difficult to beat, which is in stark contrast to the latter stages of last season, where Hertha failed to win a game from the start of April, through to the end of May. It was a run of seven games without a win, which cost them any chance of qualifying for the Champions League.
In their eighth match of this season, Hertha faced FC Koln, a team who were undefeated but having played some delightful attacking football in the first half, Hertha went in 1-0 to the good at the interval. In the second half, Hertha continued to go forward and were unlucky to concede an equaliser against the run of play. However, perhaps as a sign of Hertha’s new mentality this season, they didn’t let their heads drop and found a winning goal, to inflict Koln’s first defeat of the season and move 2 points above them in the table.
Not only did Hertha look good going forward, they were strong at the back and if this performance is anything to go by, they look the real deal this season, under manager Pal Dardai. Hertha, have been unable to maintain a steady position in the German top flight in recent years, never mind challenge for honours. However, last season could have finished so much better, if it had not been for two awful spells of form, one between the end of January and February and the other in the final two months of the season.
Can Hertha maintain their form and return to the top of German football? With the likes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund to contend with, it is never going to be easy. That being said, with no European football to contend with, if Hertha can continue picking up points, with the very winnable games they have up until December, anything is possible. After all, who thought Leicester City would win the Premier League last season?