Hertha Berlin head to Portugal for Thursday's Europa League clash with Sporting Lisbon still reeling from the events of the last three days.

A 5-1 drubbing by Hoffenheim on Sunday was followed by the departure a day later of coach Lucien Favre.

The loss at the weekend was Hertha's sixth straight Bundesliga defeat, a run which has left the team - which finished fourth last season - at the foot of the table.

Under-23 coach Karsten Heine has been placed in temporary charge while the club look for a new boss - his fourth spell as caretaker. His first challenge will be to help repair the team's confidence in time for the Group D clash with Sporting.

"It is about stopping the slide and getting the team back on the up," he said on the club's website, www.herthabsc.de.

Heine believes, though, Hertha have little to lose in Portugal.

He added: "It is a very attractive task for all involved, where you really can only win.

"We want to do the simple things, simply play football. That is what we want to get across. I hope that we are successful."

Hertha missed out on the Bundesliga title last season by just six points, and on a place in the Champions League play-offs by only one, but their start to this campaign has been anything but impressive.

They have just three points from their opening seven league games, while in their first Group D game they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Ventspils.

Sporting top the pool after winning their opener 3-2 away to Heerenveen, Liedson scoring a hat-trick, but Heine is more keen to focus on his own team.

"It is at the moment less about Lisbon for me but about my team," he said. "We have to try to do our thing in order to build up self belief again. Regardless of the result.

"We want to present ourselves well and of course take away the best possible result."

The Hertha defence could be shorn of captain Arne Friedrich, who is a doubt.

Sporting's own start to the Portuguese Liga season has not been anything to write home about. They lie fifth after six games and are already eight points behind early leaders Braga.

They went down 1-0 away to Porto at the weekend, ending the game with nine men.

But captain Joao Moutinho claims the spirit in the squad is still good.

"The squad is still together, as always," he said in the Diario de Noticias newspaper.

"That's how it is and that how it's going to be. In the face of adversity it has come together more and we want to show in this game that we're fine. We want to play well and get the victory, which is the most important thing at this stage."