Again, it’s: Hamburger SV versus Karlsruher SC. After Nordlichter and Badener have already faced each other in the first leg, in the DFB Cup and in a test match this season, the fourth confrontation is approaching. Return match in Hamburg. Also means: KSC could avenge the bitter end of the cup and thus deprive HSV of its last hope of promotion. Peter Putzing has the facts on the game.
After the bitter and very unfortunate KSC Cup loss to Hamburger SV, compensation is the order of the day in the city of more than a million people. The Badois still have a score to settle.
KSC after the 2:2 in Paderborn on 39 points
The hopes are there – Philip Hofmann, the KSC striker, who will probably leave the club. He scored his 50th goal for KSC in Paderborn – exactly in competitive match number one hundred in a Baden shirt.
Philipp Hofmann (M) led KSC to Paderborn in the meantime in the lead. | Image: Friso Gentsch/dpa
After the 2-2 draw at Paderborn, he said: “Of course I’m happy with the 50 goals”, but also admitted he would have preferred a win to that anniversary goal. Even in the somewhat disappointing draw in Paderborn, the Karlsruhe side presented themselves as the “monsters of the Baden mentality” for a long time and were not thrown off balance by a 0:1 deficit.
In total, the Badeners have now scored points in eleven games in the 2nd Bundesliga in 2021/22 – more times than any other team. Meanwhile, the Hamburgers presented themselves as a candidate for relegation. Not like a team that has promotion ambitions.
In Hamburg there is a threat of not escalating again
The proof: HSV have taken five points from the last seven games – a bitter record. The hoped-for progress is far, very far. In the north of Germany we speak of: “Frustration HSV” Or: “The impassable”.
Hamburg head coach Tim Walter plays with a ball on the training ground at the start of HSV training | Image: Gregor Fischer/dpa
KSC are unbeaten in four straight games and go into the rest of the season with a 10-point cushion in the first relegation zone. Wildparkclub leads the Second Division club rankings in goal-after-corner danger: the fan-shaped Towns have scored seven goals from corners so far.
According to the stats, the game could end 1-1 on Saturday night, as this is the most common result when Baden play against the Hanseatic League. But: A 1-0 lead for the hosts should be avoided as much as possible. Because when KSC are down 1-0 away, they have never been able to score a line.
HSV also fights to the end
The current HSV team is the youngest in the 2nd Bundesliga. The KSC team is in the bottom third of this table. HSV’s home record against KSC does not give Eichner’s team much hope: in the last twelve matches, the Karlsruhe side have won only once. At least five games have ended in a draw. Goal difference: 25 to 10 for the red pants.
Christian Eichner (KSC coach) in training. | Image: Carmele/TMC Photography
The Badeners recorded their last three at HSV in 1992, winning 1-2. Goalkeeper in Baden: Oliver Kahn. Scorer: Wolfgang Rolff, vice-world champion in the ranks of KSC, scored twice. Hamburg’s current squad is similar to KSC’s. Giving up, even if you’re late, is never an option.
The proof is: the eleven of coach Tim Walter, the absolute football expert, scored the most goals in the 2nd Bundesliga in the last quarter of an hour. HSV have always scored at least one goal in the last 15 competitive games played. KSC have achieved this feat in the last ten matches.
Tim Walter against the former club
HSV averaged 1.6 goals against KSC, and KSC scored exactly one goal. Eichner’s assistant Zlatan Bajramovic was already co-coach at HSV. At that time, assistant to Mirko Slomka, who then failed completely at the KSC. HSV midfielder Jonas Meffert also played for KSC, as did fellow HSV midfielder David Kinsombi.
Like Eichner, current HSV head coach Tim Walter got his first “coaching spurs” in the KSC youth department. Then as now, Julian Hübner is his assistant. Eichner and Walter are considered extremely hardworking and obsessed with details.