Lieberknecht angrily said: "I no longer trust this line."

Anger over the offside rule: FCK coach Torsten Lieberknecht. IMAGO/Werner Schmitt

Just before the end of stoppage time, the atmosphere at the Betzenberg stadium finally became electric. While 1. FC Kaiserslautern had offered little going forward in the first 70 minutes, their attacking efforts intensified in the final stages. However, as throughout the entire match, they seemed to lack the decisive ideas. Following a header flick-on from substitute captain Marlon Ritter, Ivan Prtajin managed to beat the impressive Berlin goalkeeper Tjark Ernst to what appeared to be the equalizer, making it 1-1.

The Croatian turned away in jubilation and ripped off his jersey. Then came the big "but": Prtajin had clearly been offside when he received the ball. After a brief VAR check, referee Tobias Welz correctly disallowed the goal. FCK coach Torsten Lieberknecht , however, was still annoyed in an interview with Sky. "I can't watch that line anymore. I don't trust it anymore," he said, clearly criticizing the calibrated line.

Lieberknecht also referred to the previous week. In Düsseldorf (1-1), a Kaiserslautern goal by Leon Robinson was disallowed after a five-minute VAR review, also due to Prtajin being offside. "Our flowing play, where we were really in the zone, was then interrupted by five minutes. And today, the decision was made immediately," Lieberknecht complained.

"It's like PlayStation. I can't see the images anymore," the 52-year-old said, refusing to be shown the scene again during the interview. However, he still wanted to acknowledge Hertha's mature performance, "which today showed in many moments why they have found this stability."

Especially after conceding in the 20th minute, the Palatinate side repeatedly fell into the trap of the lurking visitors. This allowed Berlin several decent counter-attacking opportunities. "In the first half, we opened up the field too much in all attacking positions," criticized Lieberknecht. On the other hand, he emphasized that his team could have created better chances themselves "with a bit more determination in front of goal."

Before the match, everything seemed set for a Kaiserslautern football festival: To mark the club's 125th anniversary, the FCK fans had unveiled a large-scale choreography across all the stands on the designated "Tradition Day." "It's unique in German professional football: this club, this stadium," enthused goalkeeper Julian Krahl .

It really pisses us all off that we had to watch a different team celebrating here today.

The lackluster performance, especially in the first half, was completely out of place given the emotional atmosphere of the evening, even though Lieberknecht's team couldn't be accused of lacking effort. "It's incredibly frustrating for all of us that we had to watch a different team celebrate here today," Krahl stated bluntly.

Following Lieberknecht's first home defeat as FCK coach, the visitors from Berlin now also have 20 points. Elversberg, currently in third place and the relegation playoff spot, with whom Kaiserslautern could have drawn level on points with a win, are three points ahead for both teams.