FC St. Pauli

We have a premiere on our hands. For it is the first time in the long history of the two clubs that St. Pauli and Fortuna Düsseldorf have met at the Millerntor on a Sunday. Until now the fixture list has often had other ideas in mind. Since Fortuna won promotion back to the second division in 2009 there have been a total of seven Monday night meetings, for example. So for fans to be able to go to the game after an extended Sunday morning breakfast is something of a rarity, considering the two sides have met 39 times altogether.

While we're on the subject of rarities, some of you will no doubt still hear the strains of Thy amo.... whenever you think of this fixture. What a game it was, a game in which Lenny Thy gained the nickname the "Thytan" and sent the Millerntor into overdrive with his four-goal return. Almost a year ago to the day the Boys in Brown overwhelmed the Rhinelanders, then under coach Frank Schäfer, by four goals to nil. The same result, incidentally, as on matchday 27 of the 2014-15 season, when Lienen's men also registered a 4-0 win. And as we all know, that was an incredibly important victory in the relegation battle that year, so let's hope for more of the same.

We should not place too much faith in the statistics, however. The visitors have had a solid campaign so far, amassing 19 points from 12 games to put them in touch with the leaders. Yet Friedhelm Funkel's side come to the Millerntor with no lack of respect, as evidenced by Axel Bellinghausen: "We know from our own experience what it's like to be down at the bottom, so we'll have to be even more focused than usual considering what awaits us at the Millerntor."

The Boys in Brown go into the game determined to blank out what has gone before and do everything they can to ensure Fortuna go home empty-handed. Aziz Bouhaddouz, who returned to the squad during the week after recovering from a ligament injury, could be an option despite going over on his ankle again in training. Also back on board are Ryo Miyaichi (concussion) and Waldemar Sobota (cold). Yet no matter who pulls on the brown-and-white shirt on Sunday, he can be sure to run out in front of a crowd who will sing their hearts out for him.

Because experience tells us that when the going gets tough, everyone at St. Pauli pulls even closer together. The players, the coaches, the fans. St. Pauli closes ranks. As the blog Magischer FC put it during the week: "We are St. Pauli! All together!"