Former Ghana star Kevin-Prince Boateng has lashed out at Germany legend Lothar Mathäus for criticising Hertha Berlin's performance in their home loss to Mainz 05.
Hertha who are only three points away from relegation suffered a 2-1 defeat at home on Saturday in the Bundesliga which put a huge dent on their survival bid.
They travel to Borussia Dortmund on the last day next weekend where they will have to pick at least a point and hope VfB Stuttgart lose their match before they can be safe.
After the game, Matthäus was critical of Herta's performance on Sky TV:
"It wasn't what you brought last."
Then Boateng stood in front of the Sky microphone and responded to the ex-Germany star.
He was self-critical, but also fired against Matthäus:
"We weren't in the game, we weren't fresh in our heads. But I heard Mathäus, he knows everything again. Everything is bad here with us!"
"We lacked a lot, calm on the ball and cleverness. But it was the fourth game in a row at full throttle, so that can happen."
When Matthäus was back on Sky TV, he understood Boateng's anger:
"He's disappointed, expected more. They wanted to have a party here, now they're probably having it on the couch on Sundays. Hertha didn't perform as well as in the past few weeks."