Finally calm. After a strenuous derby week with the football spectacle in the Volksparkstadion as the highlight, the Hamburger SV players were able to relax. It was necessary to come to terms with the intoxicating 4:3 in the memorable 109th city duel against FC St. Pauli and to recharge your batteries for the final sprint in the promotion race of the 2nd Bundesliga.
HSV is back on schedule with its Bundesliga return project five games before the end of the season. The leading trio of Darmstadt 98, 1. FC Heidenheim and Hamburg will most likely decide among themselves which two teams will be promoted directly and which team will have to go through the relegation detour.
Darmstadt (61 points) consolidated their lead with the 2-1 win over Karlsruher SC and are five points ahead of HSV. There is hardly any danger from behind for the top three in the classification. Fortuna Düsseldorf said goodbye to all hopes on Saturday with the 0: 2 at 1. FC Nürnberg. The same applies to FC St. Pauli after losing the game for the unofficial Hamburg city championship.
More than just a win
For HSV, the triumph in the Volksparkstadion was more than just a win against the neighbors who were at least equal in this game, more than just three points and more than just prestige. It was a victory over possible self-doubt, over talk of one of the obligatory spring crises, over criticism. It was also a victory that ended all of the unloved rival’s tenuous hopes of promotion. Above all, however, it was a win that could be the decisive booster for coach Tim Walter’s team at the end of the season.
“I think we’re going into the next few weeks with a good feeling and we’ll be going into the next few games with confidence,” said Jonas David. The otherwise often scolded defender had started the turnaround in the game with his goal to make it 1-1 shortly before the break and laid the foundation for the later HSV party. Captain Sebastian Schonlau announced: “We want to take this momentum with us now, but we still have a lot to do in the last five games.”
Goose bumps atmosphere
The near future was far away this Friday. What counted for HSV players, supervisors and fans was the moment, the here and now. 56,400 enthusiastic and enthusiastic spectators in the sold-out Volksparkstadion – including 6,000 FC St. Pauli supporters – plus spring-like weather created the atmospheric setting and ensured goosebumps.
The drama of the match, the most goals scored in a city derby since December 2001 and the eruption of emotions on the pitch and in the stands after the final whistle made for a night to remember. “I’m very, very proud of my team and the spectators. They were great,” said coach Walter. “It was the best win, for sure.”
