Jatta and his special bond with HSV’s next opponents | OneFootball

Hamburger SV will face RB Leipzig on Saturday. Bakery Jatta delivered one of the biggest performances of his career against that very opponent.

In their first season in the second division, HSV reached the DFB-Pokal semi-finals and met RB Leipzig there on 23/04/2019 as massive underdogs. Nevertheless, they played bravely — especially through Bakery Jatta. Many fans still fondly remember the 24th minute, when he nicked the ball from Kevin Kampl on the left wing and lifted it over Peter Gulacsi to make it 1–1.

The Volksparkstadion went wild and for a few minutes dreamed of reaching the cup final. In the end, however, the Hanseatics had to accept a 1–3 defeat. The Tuesday evening remained unforgettable from Jatta’s perspective nonetheless. “For me personally, it was a very special match,” he said roughly six and a half years later in an interview with the Hamburger Abendblatt.

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RB Leipzig wanted to sign Jatta

“I still remember that I was voted Man of the Match back then, even though there were so many superstars on the field for RB Leipzig and we lost. But ultimately, of course, I was also disappointed that we didn’t progress and make it to the DFB-Pokal final,” Jatta explained. His strong performance also left an impression on Ralf Rangnick — the then Leipzig coach, who shortly thereafter was appointed Global Sports Director at Red Bull.

Rangnick got in touch with agent Efe Aktas a few weeks later. According to this, RB Leipzig were to buy Jatta and initially loan him to partner club Red Bull New York. If successful, the attacking winger could then kick on in Leipzig. “My agent informed me of the interest from Leipzig and New York, and he asked me whether I could imagine a move. But at that time I couldn’t,” Jatta reported.

Photo: IMAGO

“My heart and my thoughts were clearly in Hamburg with HSV, so I simply couldn’t imagine taking that step back then.” He has now been wearing the Hamburg shirt for over nine years. But after promotion, Jatta — who is under contract until 2029 — has virtually no sporting role anymore and hasn’t even been part of a matchday squad. He hasn’t given up, though: “I hope every day that I can convince the coaching staff to give me a chance. That’s why I give everything in training.” Understandable given his impressive path into professional football. But realistically, a run-out doesn’t seem likely at the moment despite all his efforts.

Photo: Getty Images

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.