The Pirate derby is back on after 14 years

What an overture for the weekend in Hamburg, the port city in northern Germany. For the first time since 2011, the two strongest football clubs from the city, Hamburger SV and St. Pauli, will face each other in the Bundesliga. Since this season they will be direct rivals in the battle for survival, the Matchday 2 clash of the German championship, scheduled for this Friday at 21:30, carries special weight. The last time these two teams met was in May 2024, also at the Volksparkstadion, but back then in the 2. Bundesliga. St. Pauli had the chance to secure promotion to the top flight on hostile territory, but although the Dinosaurs ruined their plans with Robert Glatzel’s goal in a 1–0 win, the Buccaneers later still managed to secure one of the top two places in the table.

(©AFP)

Last season they were in different divisions: HSV finally managed to return to the Bundesliga, while St. Pauli finished in a solid 14th position and kept their top-flight status. That’s why tonight we’ll get to enjoy one of the fiercest derbies German football has to offer. The last derby had a fiery overture. While HSV players were warming up, several St. Pauli fans tried to storm the pitch to provoke them. The substitutes and fitness staff were ready to get into a physical fight, but the stewards reacted faster and stopped the attackers. Whenever the two Hamburg clubs meet, a state of emergency is practically declared in the city. For the police these are high-risk matches, and accordingly the full force of law enforcement is mobilized and deployed throughout the streets. That’s not such a common sight in Germany.

The depth of the rivalry between the fans of these two clubs is best illustrated by HSV’s promotion celebrations in May. Of all the possible locations in a city of nearly two million people, stretching across 755 square kilometers, they chose the Reeperbahn—the main street in the St. Pauli district—for their party. Tens of thousands of HSV supporters celebrated there, as if to send their neighbors who prefer St. Pauli a clear message: get ready for the next derby. And it came quickly. The Bundesliga draw paired these rivals already in the second round, before either side had reached their optimal rhythm. Both teams are still gelling: St. Pauli has 10 new players, HSV nine.

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The Hamburg rivals had an identical start to the season—they both struggled against lower-league sides in the German Cup first round, and then picked up a point each on the league’s opening weekend. St. Pauli beat Norderstedt on penalties (0–0, 3–2 after the shootout), then drew 3–3 with Borussia Dortmund. HSV beat Pirmasens 2–1 in the cup, but only after extra time, and then held Borussia Monchengladbach to a 0–0 draw away.

“For me, HSV is Hamburg. HSV is the whole north. We won’t be playing 11 against 11, we’ll have at least 50,000 fans with us who will give everything to help us win,” said the home coach Merlin Polzin ahead of today’s derby.

St. Pauli coach Alexander Blessin is no less excited:

“This is a fantastic derby. Without competition in Germany. It’s a huge thing to experience it firsthand. We want to make history, but to do that we have to enter the match with a cool head and a hot heart,” Blessin said.

Friday

21.30: (2.45) Hamburger (3.25) St.Pauli (2.95)

Saturday

16.30: (3.00) Hoffenheim (3.50) Eintr.Frankfurt (2.30)

16.30: (1.42) RB Leipzig (4.60) Heidenheim (7.50)

16.30: (1.65) Stuttgart (4.50) M' gladbach (4.80)

16.30: (3.90) Werder (3.50) Leverkusen (1.95)

19.30: (10.0) Augsburg (6.50) Bayern (1.25)

Sunday

16.30: (2.10) Wolfsburg (3.45) Mainz (3.50)

18.30: (1.42) Dortmund (4.60) Union Berlin (7.50)

20.30: (2.60) Koln (3.25) Freiburg (2.80)

***odds are subject to change***