FC St. Pauli

Almost a year after the two sides met at the Millerntor in the final home game before the winter break, the situation could not be more different. Back then, the Boys in Brown had gone the whole of October, November and December without a win, and the spectre of relegation to the third tier loomed large. It ended in a sobering 3-0 defeat. A decent first-half performance was followed by a poor second 45 to send the Schultz XI into the mid-season break next to bottom with just nine points from 13 matches and winless in 11.

On Saturday, the Boys in Brown meet Fortuna Düsseldorf once again just before Christmas, this time away from home. The mood heading into the final game of 2021 has changed completely compared with last year, however. With Timo Schultz back at the helm after testing positive for Covid-19 and spending two weeks in quarantine, confidence is at its peak following the 2-1 defeat of FC Schalke 04 and the opening up of a six-point gap at the top of the table. "It's just a fantastic feeling and the reward for all the hard work in the last few months," said a delighted Leart Paqarada during the week, safe in the knowledge that his side will end the first half of the season top of the table. "We can't afford to relax, however. I'm sure we'll go flat out once again at Düsseldorf and hopefully pick up another three points."

While the season could not have gone any better for the Schultz XI, with one or two exceptions, Fortuna are still in search of some kind of consistency. After five games without a victory, they celebrated an impressive return to form last time out, winning 3-1 at second-placed SV Darmstadt 98. And though they have won just once at home this term, Fortuna will go into the game determined to follow up on that success with another three points against the league leaders.

The Boys in Brown, who will be without Simon Makienok following his positive Covid test,  will under no circumstances underestimate the home side, given that Düsseldorf were the only team apart from Paderborn to do the double over them last season. And though things haven't gone according to plan for Christian Preusser's side so far, there is no doubt about the quality in the squad.

Rouwen Hennings is just one player the Boys in Brown will need to keep a close eye on. The former St. Pauli man has made a habit of scoring against his ex-club, not least in the aforementioned 3-0 home defeat last December. A line has long been drawn under that debacle, however, and times have changed. A lot has happened since 20 December 2020, primarily because the Schultz XI have stayed true to their principles and played some thrilling football since the turn of the year. The intention is for that to continue on Saturday evening.

Photos: Witters