This evening, second division leaders FC St. Pauli welcome league rivals FC Schalke 04 for the second round of the DFB Cup at Millerntor. Coach Fabian Hürzeler warns about the “Royal Blues” new style.
Trembling on the one hand, jubilation and ecstasy on the other: the second division games between the two clubs at the weekend couldn’t have been more different. While the “Royal Blues” conceded in stoppage time against Hannover 96 and were longing for the final whistle, St. Pauli’s Philipp Treu secured the lead in the table with his late 2-1 winning goal against Karlsruher SC and turned the Millerntor into a madhouse. In the end, both teams go into tonight’s cup duel with a sense of achievement (from 6 p.m. in the NDR Livecenter).
Favorite role? Hürzeler weighs it down
With six wins and five draws, Hamburg are still unbeaten this season, even after their success in the first round of the cup against Delmenhorst – the favorites before the duel actually lie with the hosts. But for coach Fabian Hürzeler this is not so clear.
The change of coach from Thomas Reis to Karel Geraerts has “changed something in the way Schalke play. We expect them to be more defensive, wait and then rely on counterattacks,” said the 30-year-old on Tuesday. “They are always capable of scoring goals. They have enormous quality and are difficult to play against.” The coach expects an intense duel: “They will demand everything from us,” said the Texan native.
riots at the last duel
The most recent meeting between the two clubs was not that long ago. At the end of September, the brown-whites won the top game of the 2nd league 3-1 in front of their home crowd against the “Knappen”, whose fans then received negative attention. Some Schalke supporters climbed over the fence in the north curve and attacked St. Pauli fans and security forces. According to FC St. Pauli, four stewards were injured. Accordingly, the club increased security measures and informed guests that, due to recent events, they would not allow away fans in the home areas of the stadium.
St. Pauli with full potential, Schalke without Tempelmann
There should be no such scenes on Tuesday – even if St. Pauli defeats Gelsenkirchen again. “We want to get the most out of it and give the fans the opportunity to progress,” said Hürzeler, who has the full potential in terms of personnel and hinted at changes to the starting line-up without letting anyone look at the cards. Sascha Burchert will probably be in goal again instead of regular goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj. “The cup has a special atmosphere and we are highly motivated to reach round three.”
The guests, however, have to do without Lino Tempelmann. The midfielder received a yellow-red card at Eintracht Braunschweig in the first round of the cup and will have to watch from the outside on Tuesday. “With him we are missing a player who is always able to play the decisive pass,” said Hürzeler, who values the player very much. But even without him, the “new Schalke” will know how to keep the people of Hamburg busy.
This is how they could play:
FC St. Pauli: Burchert – Wahl, Smith, Mets – Saliakas, Irvine, Hartel, Ritzka – Afolayan, Eggestein, Saad
FC Schalke 04: Ferryman – Kalas, Kaminski, Murkin – Seguin, Schallenberg – Matriciani, Ouwejan – Ouedraogo – Karaman, Terodde
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Hamburg Journal | October 30, 2023 | 19:30 o’clock
