FC St. Pauli

The reward for an amazing result against fellow relegation battlers Karlsruhe was a place above the dreaded cutoff line for the first time since mid-October. But even as the players basked in the moment, no one was placing too much importance on the biggest win of the season and the positive impact on the league table. "We can enjoy it tonight but tomorrow we have to be fully focused on the Munich game," said winger Waldemar Sobota after the final whistle. "1860 are the next mountain for us to climb," added Christopher Buchtmann.

Sobota, Buchtmann and the rest of the squad know perfectly well that Saturday's game will be anything but a walk in the park. If they are to get a result at the Allianz Arena, they can't afford to let up for a second against an 1860 side who have impressed at home this season. The Lions have accumulated 20 of their 25 points in Munich, where they are unbeaten in seven (five wins and two draws). Under the stewardship of new boss Vitor Pereira, who took charge during the winter break, they have beaten Greuther Fürth 2-1, Karlsruhe (2-1) and Nürnberg 2-0. Only Stuttgart and Union Berlin, the two form sides in the second half of the campaign, have also secured three home victories since the turn of the year.

Our recent record against 1860 – just one point from the last five games and two goals against each time – is not one to write home about. The Boys in Brown have registered two wins in 13 visits to Munich, first in November 2012 and most recently in December 2013. They have enjoyed a massive upturn in form of late, however, both home and away. Lienen's side had not won on the road for 11 games (two draws and nine defeats) before they finally ended their barren run with a 2-0 success at Fürth before the winter break. After the resumption they then won 2-1 at Braunschweig, who topped the table at the time, before claiming a 1-1 draw at Bielefeld. An interesting match-up, then, that pitches the Lions, solid at home, up against the Boys in Brown, solid away.

Reflecting on the recent uplifting haul of ten points from the last four matches, midfielder Bernd Nehrig said: "The confidence is growing from week to week. Everything's going like clockwork at the moment." The Boys in Brown have impressed at both ends of the pitch in that time, conceding just two goals and scoring ten, more than any other team in the league in February. Whoever grabs the next goal, incidentally, will go down in the history books as the scorer of our 1,000^th goal in the single second division.

Besides that landmark goal the Boys in Brown will be looking to celebrate a decent performance and more points in the battle against relegation in Munich. A target for which they will again give their all in the third successive meeting with immediate rivals.

Photo: Witters