Will Hamburger SV finally be promoted back to the Bundesliga on the fifth attempt? After three fourth places and last year’s defeat in the relegation, the route ahead of the derby against FC St. Pauli is clear.
Felix Magath is one of those who keeps a very close eye on the Hanseatic League. Naturally. The HSV legend, who won the German championship three times with the club, spoke before the important game against the city rivals in the “Bild” about the current situation of his heart club.
“If HSV were to win this hot, explosive game against their eternal rival, it would give the entire club such an enormous boost for the remaining five games that they would then march through. Then their heads are totally free, and many things then run more naturally on the pitch,” the 69-year-old is certain.
Magath counts HSV coach Walter
But it won’t be easy against Pauli. Although the Kiezklub recently lost 2-1 to Braunschweig, Fabian Hürzeler’s team previously celebrated ten wins in a row. HSV also messed up the “derby dress rehearsal” with a 2-0 defeat in Kaiserslautern.
The Hamburgers are still favorites for Magath: “St. Pauli put in an impressive performance with ten wins in the second half of the season. I take my hat off to that. But even before the 2-1 draw against Braunschweig I had the impression that the Kiez club out of breath a little.”
With a derby win, HSV would come a big step closer to promotion. Should the return to the Bundesliga not succeed again, coach Tim Walter in Hamburg should also be on the brink of extinction.
Magath knows the mechanisms that would then take effect: “If Tim doesn’t make it in the end, then it’s probably the end in Hamburg. The declared goal is promotion – and there’s no getting around it.”
