Hamburger SV: “If we don’t do that, we’re nothing special”

For coach Steffen Baumgart, a success for HSV against Eintracht Braunschweig is a question of the right order. “The game will be decided by the mentality and the duels,” said the coach of the Hamburg second division football team before the fourth-placed team’s game against the penultimate team on Friday evening (6.30 p.m./Sky).

“That is the first task. Playing football comes after,” the 52-year-old clarified and added: “If we do these things, we are good. If we don’t do it, we’re not special.”

Schonlau and Meffert are back

In general, the HSV coach emphasized the importance of defense: “In the second division you don’t get promoted with the most goals, but with the fewest you get.” Baumgart should play into the cards against Lower Saxony that defense chief Sebastian Scholau and defensive midfielder Jonas Meffert have served their bans and are available again.

In Silvan Hefti, Dennis Hadzikadunic and Emir Sahiti, three recently injured players are also returning to training. A game against Braunschweig comes too early for the trio. Baumgart: “Nevertheless, we see light at the end of the tunnel.”

FC St. Pauli has to replace Treu

First division club FC St. Pauli will have to do without Philipp Treu for some time. The midfielder “suffered a structural muscular injury to his left thigh” during Saturday’s 2-0 win at TSG Hoffenheim, the promoted team announced. The diagnosis was made after an MRI scan.

Treu will be absent “until further notice” and will therefore not be present in the game on Saturday (3:30 p.m./Sky) against league leaders and record champions Bayern Munich. The 23-year-old was substituted in the 50th minute on Saturday due to the injury.

Treu has been in the starting line-up in each of the nine league games so far. He moved from the SC Freiburg second team to Hamburg before last season and celebrated the second division championship and promotion with the neighborhood club.