Our next opponents: St. Pauli reaping rewards for efforts in DFB Pokal

Position

The sense of frustration was palpable from St. Pauli as they returned from Augsburg without a point after putting in so much effort, having more possession, more shots and so many good chances. “It was a game of squandered chances,” said captain Jackson Irvine after Sunday’s 2-1 loss in the Bundesliga. “We were the better team with the better chances. We had lots of good moments and were creative. We showed today we can play well, but the situation isn’t any better. We’re aware of that,” he added. It left the Kiezkicker second from bottom in the table and in the thick of the scramble to stay up. With Mainz winning at RB Leipzig, Alexander Blessin’s side now find themselves four points adrift of the relative safety of the play-off spot. As well as missed chances, the coach also spoke of “doziness at the goals we conceded” as the main reason for their 12th defeat in 20 league fixtures this season. Michael Gregoritsch twice punished them for those lapses, after Danel Sinani’s penalty had put the visitors ahead.

It means St. Pauli are now six games without a win, picking up only three points. Two of the losses only came late on, with the 3-2 defeat at Borussia Dortmund through Emre Can’s 95th-minute penalty and the 2-1 reverse in Wolfsburg seeing the winner come two minutes from time. That being said, the Hamburg club got a late goal or their own last week to draw 1-1 against Leipzig thanks to Martijn Kaars’ penalty.

Things have been tight in their three DFB Pokal ties so far this season as well. It took penalties to beat fourth-tier Eintracht Norderstedt in the first round before a dramatic clash with Hoffenheim. After ending 1-1 after 90 minutes, Andrej Kramaric and Mathias Pereira Lage traded more goals in extra-time. It then took 18 penalty kicks to determine a winner, with Ben Voll in his only appearance of the season proving the hero by saving the decisive spot-kick. Kaars and Louis Oppie were on the scoresheet for the 2-1 victory at Gladbach in the round of 16. Now they come to the BayArena for the quarter-finals, where captain Irvine says, “we expect a tough game”.

Personnel

St. Pauli unveiled a new signing last weekend with Japan international Taichi Hara from Kyoto Sanga. “Taichi and his abilities are the sort of player we didn’t have in our squad yet. He can be used as a classic target man but also has the technical skill to get involved in combination play. That allows our play additional flexibility. We’re confident his experience in Europe will help him to acclimatise quickly with us,” said club boss Andreas Bornemann of the new striker. Hara has previously played in Croatia, Spain and Belgium. Last season he scored five goals and provided 10 assists in the J-League, while he also has two senior caps for Japan.

Hara is the third Japanese player in the St. Pauli squad alongside centre-back Tomoya Ando, who also joined this window, and midfielder Joel Fujita. The striker wasn’t in the team on Saturday but could now feature in Leverkusen. Fellow forward Andreas Hountondji is out with a hairline fracture in his ankle, while midfielder Connor Metcalfe (knee), defender David Nemeth (adductor) and back-up goalkeeper Simon Spari (ankle) are also sidelined. Key defender Hauke Wahl missed the Augsburg game with a knock, but there’s hope he’ll be back on Tuesday. Eric Smith dropped back to cover at the weekend, with new signing Mathias Rasmussen from Union Saint-Gilloise making his first start for the Kiezkicker.

Captain Irvine could come back into the team after only coming off the bench in the last two games against Hamburg and Leipzig following a persistent issue with his left foot. The 32-year-old Australian’s presence provided a notable boost to the team. “We need to check things each week and discuss it. It depends on how he feels and how he can handle the pain,” said Blessin of his on-field leader, who played the final 20 minutes in Augsburg.

Problems

Failing to take chances has often been an issue for St. Pauli this season. Sinani, Rasmussen, Ricky-Jade Jones and Abdoulie Ceesay all squandered excellent opportunities at Augsburg and ultimately led to another needless defeat. It’s perhaps unsurprising that they have the worst attack in the Bundesliga with only 18 goals scored.

Performers

There’s never any doubting St. Pauli’s efforts when it comes to tackling, running, pressing and compact defending. But even with those missed chances, they looked very lively going forward against Augsburg and Leipzig. The Werkself also found out in the first league meeting of this season how difficult it can be against the Kiezkicker. The hosts were the dominant side in the first half at the Millerntor, but Bayer 04 managed to come away with a 2-1 victory on Matchday 5. Bayern Munich have also had their struggles with the Hamburg club, needing two late goals to avoid a 1-1 draw. Blessin’s team will fight until the end as they look to keep their DFB Pokal dreams alive for 2025/26.