Season

HSV gearing up for first training session of the year

After a twelve-day winter break, the Rothosen will return to the pitch on Friday afternoon (2nd January). The first session of 2026, along with the sessions at the weekend, will be open to the public.

The restful and relaxing period around Christmas and the new year is hardly over, but the ball is about to start rolling again at the Volkspark. On Friday afternoon (2nd January), vice-captain Nicolas Capaldo (pictured) and his HSV teammates will take to the pitch for their first training session of 2026. After twelve days off, the coaches, players and staff will meet for brunch at 12:00 CET, before training gets started at 14:00 CET. The session will be open for fans and spectators to watch. There will also be two rounds of training held over the weekend, with both sessions getting underway at 10:00 CET.

Fans will also be looking forward to seeing new snaps of their favourite players in the first training session of the year. U21 talents Moritz Reimers, Shafiq Nandja and Omar Megeed will be taking part in the session alongside the first team squad. Other players who have been nursing long-term injuries are expected be back in team training. Robert Glatzel, Jean-Luc Dompe and Alexander Rössing-Lelesiit are due to return to action, having already completed individual sessions over the winter break. Centre-back Warmed Omari was also working hard over the holiday period and is aiming for a timely return to training. Captain Yussuf Poulsen, who sustained an ankle injury in the middle of December, will have to be a little more patient.

Busy January

In the first few days of training before the Bundesliga kicks off again, the HSV players will get some time on the ball again before things start to heat up. The Rothosen don’t have much time before the second half of the season gets underway. On 10th January, they will travel to Freiburg for matchday 16 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. “It’s a quick turnaround, so we’re staying in Hamburg instead of going abroad. Then, we’re training from the 2nd until the 4th of January, taking a day off on the 5th and then we’ve got a normal week from the 6th before the away game in Freiburg,” emphasised head coach Merlin Polzin before the final competitive fixture of 2025 against Frankfurt.

HSV are preparing for the upcoming run of fixtures like their competition – only six of the Bundesliga clubs are embarking on an extra winter camp. After their return to competitive action, the Rothosen have two games in the space of five days against Bayer 04 Leverkusen (13th January) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (17th January). The schedule doesn’t get any less busy for HSV after that. On 23rd January, the Rothosen take on local rivals St. Pauli, then face off against FC Bayern München in the prime-time fixture of matchday 20 (31st January). There’s no time to lose for HSV – the Bundesliga is almost back!