"Prefer to face HSV" – St Pauli boss Blessin raises eyebrows | OneFootball

FC St. Pauli slipped to the bottom of the table over the weekend. Nevertheless, coach Alexander Blessin is looking forward to the upcoming city derby against HSV.

His team is actually not in bad shape. Both in Wolfsburg (1:2) and at Borussia Dortmund (2:3), more would have been possible. In the Westfalenstadion, FC St. Pauli even came back from a 0:2 deficit, before Ricky-Jade Jones, who was responsible for the equalizer, became the tragic hero in stoppage time. His unnecessary foul on Maximilian Beier at the edge of the penalty area led to a penalty, which Emre Can converted for the winning goal.

An extremely bitter defeat for the district club. “Especially because we would have deserved more. The boys fought bravely, defended well, and hardly allowed BVB any chances. We won’t give up, I can promise that,” said coach Alexander Blessin afterwards (via Abendblatt). Despite just one win in the last 14 games, safety is only four points away.

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Accordingly, the city derby on Friday evening is considered to be decisive. Midfielder Joel Chima Fujita described it as a “six-point game, the most important of the season, which we have to win in order to achieve our goal of staying up.” For HSV, who have yet to win away from home, there is the chance to put a clear eight-point gap between themselves and St. Pauli with a victory at the Millerntor.

In the first leg – still without key players like Luka Vuskovic, Albert Sambi Lokonga, and Fabio Vieira – they were fighting a losing battle. The Brown-and-Whites won comfortably at the Volksparkstadion with 2:0. Perhaps that’s why Blessin said: “With all due respect, I’d rather play against HSV on Friday than against any other team.” Aside from that, the table situation always plays a secondary role in a derby. However, depending on the outcome, it’s likely to be discussed intensely at one of the two clubs after the match. After all, HSV’s visit to St. Pauli could also have a huge impact on the rest of their season.

Photo: Getty Images

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