The Nordderby against Hamburger SV is finally back after three and a half years, and it will be the first one in the 2. Bundesliga. It’s also Markus Anfang’s first derby as Werder coach: “It will be a very emotional game, for the team, the club, everyone. A rivalry like this is something very special, and football feeds off these kinds of games. I’m looking forward to it because they have a special thrill about them,” Anfang told WERDER.TV.
The only current Werder players to have got a taste of what the Nordderby against HSV means are Milos Veljkovic, Jiri Pavlenka and Niclas Füllkrug. Will that be disadvantageous to the Green-Whites? Werder head coach Markus Anfang certainly doesn’t think so: “It relieves you of the pressure a bit going into the game. Of course everyone knows that it’s a derby and you realise very quickly just how special it is. But it’s also sometimes good to go into a game without any prior experience and then take in all the emotion of it.”
Saturday’s objective is clear: three points and a derby win against HSV in front of a home crowd. “I’ve never experienced that in a stadium before. It’s obviously something very special, particularly because we are facing off in the 2. Bundesliga,” added the 47-year-old. “We want to control the game and get the three points.”
