HSV v St Pauli: The Hamburg derby and race for promotion

For a long time Hamburger SV could claim football bragging rights in a city where rivals St Pauli are more renowned for their distinctive culture than on-the-field exploits.

But it is the neighbourhood club who are undefeated in their past five meetings going into Friday's derby, a game with a little more riding on it.

Both sides head into the game as part of an excruciatingly tight promotion battle in which every club in the top half of the 2. Bundesliga table can legitimately claim to have aspirations of reaching the top flight.

Just seven points separate leaders St Pauli from Nurnberg in ninth after 19 games, with HSV fifth and lodged between clubs in Werder Bremen and Schalke who not so long ago were more focused on trying to achieve Champions League football.

The top two will go up automatically, with third place facing a play-off against the club finishing third bottom in the Bundesliga.

Covid restrictions mean just 2,000 fans will be present at HSV's 57,000-capacity Volksparkstadion and only 100 of those will be from St Pauli, but that has not stopped excitement in the city building.

«It is always something special,» says Tanja Hufschmidt from the HSV Talk podcast.

«The city is electrified by this match. The whole city divides and says 'hey, I am blue, white and black' or 'no, I am white and brown!'»

The occasion is also felt by the players, especially at St Pauli under coach Timo Schultz, who was part of the last Buccaneers side to feature in the Bundesliga.

«What I know from Pauli is they are excited about it,» says Max Weinhold, of the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper. «Timo Schultz is authentic because he has been at Pauli as a player as well and played the derby in the first division in 2011.

»He really knows the club