Things looked very different in 2008. The equivalent of 15 million euros in start-up support that Hertha had received from the Bertelsmann subsidiary UFA since 1994 for the club’s sporting renaissance had been used up. Manager Dieter Hoeneß made one last attempt, bringing in stars for nearly 25 million euros in two waves for the previously unknown Swiss coach Lucien Favre. With Raffael and Steve von Bergen, Hertha had effectively plundered FC Zürich; Gojko Kacar came from Vojvodina Novi Sad.\n\nThe most glamorous player was loan striker Andriy Voronin from Liverpool.