The second round of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season will feature a derby clash, with St. Pauli away to newly promoted Hamburg. Coach Blessing stated that his team must be precise in their pressing and capitalize on their strengths no matter the situation.

In the first round of the new Bundesliga season, St. Pauli was leading but scored by Horndungi, Daniel Sinani and Eric Smith, and finally drew 3-3 with Dortmund away.

As for Hamburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach drew 0-0 with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the first round.

St. Pauli coach Blessing said in an interview, "We have proved in the game against Dortmund that we can compete with such a team. We need to be precise in pressing and tough when we have the ball. We know that this is an away game and most of the fans will fight against us together, but our fans will also make their voices heard."

"Of course we respect Hamburg, but it's more important to focus on ourselves and show our strengths, both in defense and attack. We showed these qualities last week and we are also well prepared this time with the goal of winning."

"We experienced similar games last season and performed well," Blessing pointed out. "We can't be affected by the atmosphere on the field. Our goal is to turn the opponent's fans from excitement into disappointment. We found it difficult to turn the situation around when we were behind, but in the second half of the season we proved that the team can handle these situations well."

"The best example was against Dortmund away. It was almost impossible to come back after falling behind 3-1, but we never gave up. That belief in our own quality is always crucial."

When talking about how the new players should deal with the derby, Blessing said, "How to deal with the momentum in the game is always a delicate issue. The senior players know very well what will happen. We will pass this information to the new players through communication, but we can't overdo it. The most appropriate way is to stay calm and passionate. Although we need to adjust our emotions and show aggression, we must remain calm, which is extremely important in such a game atmosphere. For the players, nothing can be more exciting than such a game."

As for the team's lineup situation, Blessing said, "Eric Smith suffered a minor injury in training, but recovered on the second day. He can play, and so can Aflayan. But it is a pity that David Nemeth is injured again, and we are still not sure how long he will be out."

"Abdul-Jabbar is also unavailable. He suffered a cut to his foot against Dortmund that tore his shoe. He didn't realise it at the time and had to get stitches after the game."