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St. Pauli’s highly emotional 3-3 home draw against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday night will ideally serve to stir up excitement for a monster match to come. Next Friday night, the second matchday of the 2025/26 Bundesliga kicks off with an absolute cracker. St. Pauli prepare to face city rivals Hamburger SV in the first edition of the Hamburg derby to take place in the German top flight in 14 years.
After Saturday’s match, the St. Pauli ultras displayed a clear message to their team. As the Kiezkicker visited the FanKurve at the Millerntor, a banner read “Holt für uns den Derbysieg.” (“Go grab us the derby win“). Hamburg’s Pirate Ship can feel confident as they prepare to set sail for the Volksparkstadion.
A starting XI comprised mostly of new summer additions who have turned in an inspiring training camp impressed in their opening Bundesliga match. Head coach Alexander Blessin made certain to emphasize that five of his 10 outfield starters only just joined the club.
“That’s half of the team,” Blessin noted at the post-match press conference. “And we’re already succeeding. We had a good training camp, earned a point against Dortmund, and now want to take the derby too.“
GGFN | Peter Weis
