Hertha’s Toni Leistner takes massive swipe at hometown club Dynamo Dresden | OneFootball

Veteran German football journeyman Toni Leistner is back in Berlin and playing a highly important role for his current 2. Bundesliga club. The 35-year-old – having already represented Union Berlin, 1. FC Köln, Dynamo Dresden, Hamburger SV, and Hallescher FC – now features regularly at Hertha BSC. Leistner has logged maximum minutes in the league through 11 matchdays despite his advanced age. 

Leistner again helped Hertha keep a clean sheet against Dresden this weekend. His immense strength in the duels earned him man-of-the-match honors. In his post-match interview with Sky Germany, Leistner simply couldn’t resist taking a dig at his old hometown club. It appears as if the Dresden-native still has an incident from over five years ago in the back of his mind. 

Whilst playing for Hamburg during the first round of the 2020/21 DFB Pokal, Leistner was conducting a post-match interview at the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion when he suddenly snapped. Leistner’s HSV had just been dumped out of the Pokal by then 3. Liga Dresden. A heckling fan in the Dresden stands drove Leistner over the edge. Leistner abruptly cut the interview short and climbed into the stands to confront the fan. 

The incident earned Leistner a five-match-suspension, a hefty fine, and even a legal charge for attempted assault. The fact that the confrontation took place at the height of the pandemic also meant that Leistner got whacked with more fines for violating social distancing rules. Leistner’s target in the stands, ultimately pushed to the ground, reportedly leveled personal insults against both Leistner and his family. 

Whether or not the confrontation continues to motivate Leistner whenever playing against Dresden is, naturally, not known. The player’s performance on Saturday against his old club at the Olympiastadion would nevertheless seem to suggest so. Leistner’s latest post-match interview also illustrated how much the central defender cared about his ld wounds. 

“Greetings to all the coaches who didn’t want me in Dresden,” Leistner told Sky. “I’m always emotional at these matches. I booked about 50 tickets [for friends and family] and many were wearing my old Dynamo jersey. In the end, there were still here for me and not for Dynamo Dresden. I’m extremely proud to have performed this way against my hometown club.“

GGFN | Peter Weis