Season-opening against Espanyol Barcelona

HSV announced this week that they will play a friendly game against four time Spanish cup winners (2006, 2000, 1940 and 1929) Espanyol Barcelona on August 6 (kick off 3.00 PM), as part of what will be the third Volkspark season-opening party. The game will kick off at 3.00 PM at the Volksparkstadion and will be the highlight of the event. Espanyol Barcelona finished 8th in their league last season, narrowly missing out on European qualification. It marks the start of a busy period for head coach Markus Gisdol and his men, who face a DFB Cup first round clash (11 – 14 August, draw yet to be made). The 2017/18 Bundesliga season begins a fortnight later (August 18 – 20). It will be the first ever meeting between the two sides who were founding members of their respective leagues. Until now the Rothosen have only faced FC Barcelona (15) and CE Europa (1).

The top game is of course not the only part of the event which will be catering for families in a big way. The last two years saw the Rothosen host and beat Italian top flight side Hellas Verona (2:1) as well as English Premier League outfit Stoke City (1:0). Those games attracted crowds of around 25,000 at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg.  

Further details on the event will be announced soon.