Season

HSV’s winter schedule for the 2025/26 season

The Bundesliga heads into its winter break after matchday 15, with competitive action on hold until 9th January. For HSV, the new footballing year begins on 2nd January, before their first competitive fixture of 2026 away at SC Freiburg on 10th January.

An eventful calendar year for HSV is slowly drawing to a close. The 1-1 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt marked the end of 2025 on the pitch, sending the Rothosen into a short but well-earned winter break. Only the long-term injured concerns will remain at work over the Christmas period, continuing their rehabilitation programmes at the Volksparkstadion. Youngster Alexander Rössing-Lelesiit, meanwhile, will complete his rehab back home in Norway.

The rest of the squad has been given time to recharge their batteries. Head coach Merlin Polzin’s players are free from team training until Friday, 2nd January 2026 – a break of 12 days. On their return, coaching staff, squad and support team will come together for a joint brunch at the Volksparkstadion before heading out onto the training pitch at 15:00 CET for the first session of the new year. The standard fitness and medical tests were already completed on 16th December, during the final training week of 2025, meaning the focus from 2nd January can be firmly on football.

A busy start to the new year

Attention will quickly turn to the Bundesliga restart and the away trip to SC Freiburg on 10th January (15:30 CET). That fixture also marks the beginning of a busy week. It continues with home matches against Bayer 04 Leverkusen on 13th January (20:30 CET) and Borussia Mönchengladbach on 17th January (15:30 CET). The meeting with Leverkusen brings the first half of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season to a close, while the clash with Gladbach opens the second half of the campaign. The two sides last met on the opening weekend back in August, when they played out a goalless draw.