After the cup is before the league: FCN has to play another competitive game on Sunday – and for this they travel to the far north to the second division “top team” Hamburger SV. Will the club achieve a long-awaited premiere in the Volksparkstadion?

Things are happening in quick succession for the FCN: they were just challenged in the DFB Cup in Sinsheim, and a few days later the next top-class player is waiting for the Franconians. On Sunday (November 3, 2024) the club will be guests at Hamburger SV. This won’t be a walk in the park for coach Miroslav Klose’s team either. You can watch the game live on TV and stream here.

The Nuremberg players and their coach wanted to quickly put an end to the somewhat unfortunate defeat in the cup at TSG Hoffenheim. “It was a game of equals, with the luckier winner Hoffenheim,” summed up cup keeper Christian Mathenia. Klose quickly looked ahead: “My focus is on Hamburg. Regenerate – and play a good game there.”

FCN “at eye level” with Hoffenheim: Klose focuses on HSV

The club coach definitely knows how to score against HSV. In his active career as a striker, the now 46-year-old only scored more goals against Berlin’s Hertha (eleven) than against HSV (ten goals in 21 competitive games). Hopefully the coach will also pass on his knowledge to his protégés, because in the past there was little for FCN to gain against the former Bundesliga giants.


HSV only lost one of the last 15 (!) competitive games against the club. In March 2022, the Rothosen lost 1-2 in Nuremberg, with Pascal Köpke and Tim Handwerker scoring for FCN under Robert Klauß. Otherwise there were seven HSV wins, two draws and most recently even four Hamburg wins in a row with 11:1 goals. Last season the club lost 2-0 at home against HSV. In Hamburg there was even a 1:4 defeat.

The FCN is something like Hamburg’s favorite opponent in the 2nd league. The Rothosen celebrated more victories against no other club and never remained goalless in ten games in the lower house. When games were played in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion, things usually got even worse for FCN. The club in Hamburg has never been able to win in League 2. Nuremberg’s last victory in Hamburg was a game in the 1st Bundesliga – and was more than ten years ago. At the end of August 2012, Hanno Balitsch scored the decisive 1-0 with his last Bundesliga goal.

FCN against HSV: Never won in Hamburg in the 2nd league – be careful of Muheim standards

The standards that already decided the game in Sinsheim could also become an issue again in the Volksparkstadion. Miro Muheim is HSV’s top assist provider in the 2nd league (already seven assists). The left-footed player also takes dangerous corners, and four HSV goals have already been scored after his resting balls from the corner flag.

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So what speaks for a premiere victory for Nuremberg in Hamburg in autumn 2024? The cup game against Hoffenheim at least showed that FCN in its current form can keep up even against nominally stronger opponents. HSV can also definitely be counted in this category due to its individual class. In any case, there was no discernible class difference against TSG, if you exclude the standards.

Goalkeeper Mathenia said they had made “a further development in terms of play” in the last few weeks. Playmaker Julian Justvan sees it similarly. Even after the cup knockout, the team is “in a good phase. And we don’t want to let the defeat take that away from us.” Rather, Nuremberg’s number 10 promised: “We will go to Hamburg with a broad chest.”

With a win into the top group of the second division? Justvan: “to Hamburg with a broad chest”

Why not? The Hamburg team also lost away to a first division team during the week. In the end, like with FCN, it was only 1:2 against SC Freiburg. HSV also lost its most recent league game – somewhat surprisingly – 2:4 at SV Elversberg. As a result, FCN is eighth in the table, only two points behind HSV (6th) and close to the promotion ranks. With a win, Klose’s team would suddenly be at the top and overtake Steffen Baumgart’s team. That should provide additional motivation.

Regarding the staff: There will be another change in the club goal compared to the cup game during the week. Cup goalkeeper Mathenia frees up the space between the posts for regular goalkeeper Jan Reichert. Whether Klose makes further changes to the starting line-up depends primarily on how well his kickers coped with the cup game. It is quite possible that the trainer rotates in one position or another – also for reasons of load control.

On the left, Klose once again has to choose between Danilo Soares and Berkay Yilmaz, who at least did a decent job against Hoffenheim. Other starting eleven candidates are Lukas Schmelzer in attack, Nick Seidel in defense and Jannik Hofmann as a right-wing player.

This is how the FCN could play against Hamburger SV

Reichert – Karafiat, Knoche, Jeltsch – Danilo Soares/Yilmaz, Jander, Castrop, Villadsen – Justvan – Emreli, Tzimas

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Preview image: © Uwe Anspach (dpa)