The International Break Comes to an End With the Kiezclub
Union Travel to Play St. Pauli
Union's men's first team return to Bundesliga action on Sunday evening when they travel to play FC St. Pauli. Kick off at the Millerntor-Stadion is at 17:30.
The lie of the land
Two weeks ago, the Kiezkicker narrowly lost 2-1 at home to SC Freiburg. Louis Oppie scored the consolation goal in the 69th minute, but it wasn't enough to save them from defeat.
Union, on the other hand, ended FC Bayern's winning streak on the last matchday, and could well have come away from hosting the record champions as winners, were it not for Harry Kane's 93rd minute equaliser. The 2-2 draw still saw the first points dropped by FC Bayern across all competitions this season.
After their 3-3 draw against Borussia Dortmund, a 2-0 in the derby against HSV and the 2-1 win over Augsburg, St. Pauli had the best Bundesliga start in the club's history with seven points from the first three matches. However, since then things have not gone exactly to plan, having lost seven Bundesliga matches in a row – the league's worst run this season, and equal worst in Pauli's top flight history.
One reason for this lies up front. In the first three matches, FCSP scored seven times, but only twice since then. This makes their attack the second weakest in the league, with only Heidenheim scoring fewer goals.
There are, however, also issues at the back. They have conceded the third most goals in the league so far. Hope though comes from the return of captain Jackson Irvine, who came back from injury and played 20 minutes in Freiburg. "You can feel how important he is with his presence and charisma," emphasised coach Alexander Blessin after the match.
The clubs have played twenty-nine competitive matches against each other so far. Union have won thirteen, St. Pauli ten. The points were shared six times. In The Bundesliga they have a single win each.
For two Union players, the match at Millerntor has a special significance. Aljoscha Kemlein was loaned to St. Pauli in the second half of the 2023/24 season and played a significant role in their promotion to the Bundesliga. Tom Rothe, meanwhile, was in the FC St. Pauli academy between 2018 and 2021 before moving to the youth team of Borussia Dortmund.
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Over 2,900 Unioner will travel to the Millerntor on Sunday, and the away block is sold out. The mobile zeughaus will also be on site. Information regarding visiting the stadium can be found here.
The match will be broadcast live by DAZN in Germany. In addition, there will be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and at rbb24. As usual, Union will provide updates via the club's own live ticker, as well as in English on Twitter. As ever, a full English match report will be published online after the final whistle.
