"We'll get our derby luck back!"

On Thursday morning (20 January), the press conference before the Hamburg city derby against FC St. Pauli (Friday, 21 January, from 5.30 p.m. live on HSVnetradio) was of course all about this very special match, which unfortunately, due to the current Corona regulations, may only take place in front of 2,000 spectators in the Volksparkstadion. And HSV coach Tim Walter could see, hear and feel that there was already a lot of energy in it. The coach presented himself focused and full of energy in the question and answer session with the journalists.
 Tim Walter talked about...

... the tension before the Stadtderby: "I would rather describe it as huge anticipation, because we are looking forward to a great experience. I notice that the team is full of energy, because games like the one in Cologne on Tuesday or now the derby on Friday are exactly what you can't get enough of as a footballer. This fact is much more important than any tiredness after the 120 minutes on Tuesday night. The will, readiness and courage for this special game are 100% there, the boys just have to let it out on the pitch and have a good day. We definitely have the energy for it.

„We have clearly improved since the first leg“

... his assessment of the opponent:   "It's not by chance that FC St. Pauli are where they are, they're doing a lot right there. But we have our full focus on ourselves, so there is little room to look at others. Because we are 100% convinced of our path, where we as a coaching team convey the content to the team every day, a few experienced players lead the way, and many young players permanently learn an extremely large amount and improve. That's what it's all about for us. We want more, we want to develop further, we want more highlights like these games against 1. FC Köln or now against FC St. Pauli..

... the memories of the first leg: We showed a good performance, just like the opponent. In the end, FC St. Pauli had a bit more derby luck, but we'll get that luck back! Everyone is extremely excited about this game, and our full focus is on it. We can't change the past, but we can rewrite the future. We're going to give it everything we've got. And I know we're on the right track, because difficult games like in Dresden or Cologne make us better. And we've improved a lot since the first leg, so the 2:3 doesn't play a big role in our minds. The focus is exclusively on the future.