Hamburg (dpa) – How much the fans long for the return of Hamburger SV to the big football stage was demonstrated to the players and their coach Tim Walter on the return trip from the Baltic Sea coast.
A few supporters in jerseys and with a large diamond flag stood on a motorway bridge over the A1 on Sunday evening, waved their scarves and cheered the blue team bus as it drove under the bridge.
After successfully defending third place with the difficult 3-2 draw at Hansa Rostock, HSV only has to survive two more acts to finally be part of the Bundesliga 18 ensemble again and present their audience with top-flight pieces in the Volksparkstadion. “We really deserved the two bonus games,” said Walter about the relegation games against the Bundesliga-16. Hertha BSC.
Full focus on first leg
Walter announced that he would go through with this crucial week. The celebrations after the final whistle in Rostock were correspondingly brief. Days off are cancelled. Concentration is already on the first leg on Thursday (8.30 p.m. / Sky and Sat.1) in Berlin. Next Monday (8.30 p.m./Sky and Sat.1) the ascent party will then take place in the Volksparkstadion, which will then be sold out with 57,000 spectators.
“Our chances in the relegation are there, but Hertha is the Bundesliga club and has a lot of individual quality. We can still do it!” said goalscorer Robert Glatzel. Sport director Jonas Boldt is convinced: “Now we have two cup games and we have shown this season that we can accept them.”