Brooks, 23, already missed Hertha’s 2-0 win against Schalke on Sunday and is facing a race against time to return to the squad at the weekend when the second-placed Bundesliga team travel to Eintracht Frankfurt.
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“We’re enormously happy that we now have nine points, but Bayern is a completely different opponent”, admitted Hertha’s left-back Marvin Plattenhardt. “We’ll need a really good day”.
Yesterday, goals by ex-Bayern midfielder Mitchell Weiser and Swiss midfielder Valentin Stocker at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium gave Hertha three wins from three. “It’s a nice story for the fans”, said Weiser.
Hertha doubled their lead in emphatic fashion ten minutes later when Weiser’s pass found Stocker in space behind the Schalke defence and the Swiss worldwide showed great control before slamming his shot home.
After ten straight defeats at the hands of Munich, Hertha’s last win over Bayern was back in February 2009 and Berlin are realistic of their chances.
A recent spate of illnesses and injuries have hit the team hard, with Douglas Costa being the latest player to be ruled out – the 26-year-old picked up a thigh strain in Bayern’s 3-1 win over Ingolstadt last Saturday (17 September).
Weinzierl was poached from Augsburg and new sports director Christian Heidel was recruited from Mainz.
“Three games, no points: that’s not Schalke”, fumed frustrated Brazilian defender Naldo.
FC Bayern München have just 14 fit senior professionals available for Wednesday’s clash with Hertha BSC in the Bundesliga. “That’s the only way we’ll get out of this together”.
“We are on the right path and we mustn’t let results drive us mad”, said Germany defender and Schalke captain Benedikt Hoewedes.
Mainz moved into the top half thanks to their first win of the season, 3-1 at Augsburg.
Konstantinos Stafylidis finally equalized in the 73rd with a fine strike from outside the penalty area, only for Yunus Malli to restore the visitors’ lead two minutes later with a header from Daniel Brosinski’s cross.
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Mainz forward Jhon Cordoba opened with a header off a corner in the seventh minute but it was the second half before the home side threatened a response.
