"We want to win every competition we're in"

Head coach Merlin Polzin's last time in the press conference room at the Volksparkstadion came six days ago and ended with him being showered in beer by his players after they'd successfully earned promotion with a 6-1 win against Ulm. This time around, the coach was assured of staying dry as he placed his focus on the Rothosen's final match of the season against SpVgg Greuther Fürth (18th May, 15:30 CEST). Although they are already assured of promotion, HSV have set themselves the aim of finishing in first place. In order to give themselves the best chance of lifting the 2. Bundesliga title by the time the final whistle goes, the Rothosen will need to pick up all three points in Fürth. Ahead of the game, Polzin spoke to the media about…

…the personnel: Mario Vuskovic and Noah Katterbach are both still unavailable and therefore won't play this weekend. The same goes for Dennis Hadzikadunic, Immanuel Pherai and Tom Mickel, who are all still dealing with minor issues. Ransford Königsdörffer is carrying a couple of knocks from last weekend. He has an intense season behind him. We'll see what makes sense for him and don't want to take any risks. Aboubaka Soumahoro and Bakery Jatta were both able to complete parts of team training. We'll see whether they will be able to be an option for us this weekend. 

…winning promotion and how the last few days have been: The reality of what happened will likely only really hit us in the next days. It'll come after our final game is played and you then have a quiet moment either alone or as a team to process it all. Obviously last Saturday and the moments after the game were unforgettable for us. It will always be a positive memory for us, when looking back on what we've achieved together. On the one hand, we tried to celebrate it and the team managed to really get the stadium going in a positive sense. At the same time, despite our joy at winning promotion, we also recognised that we still have something we want to achieve on Sunday and that we needed to let it all out then. 
 

"We don’t just want a photo of us as a promotion-winning team, we want a photo with the 2. Bundesliga trophy."  

...the final game of the season in Fürth: We want to approach the game with maximum focus and intensity in order to finish the season in first place. We don't need any outside motivation in order to win on Sunday. We're competitors and want to win every competition we're in – no matter if it's a tournament in training or a game at the weekend. It's those sort of moments that demonstrate whether you're a winner or not. We've achieved our big goal but we've made it clear to the team that we want to take something home with us from Fürth. We don’t just want a photo of us as a promotion-winning team, we want a photo with the 2. Bundesliga trophy. 

...opponents Fürth: The situation heading into the final matchday appeals to every spectator. We want to win the game in order to lift the title, while there's also a lot at stake for Fürth. I'm expecting it to be another intense game. Fürth have changed their head coach again and played well in Hanover despite conceding an unfortunate equaliser. We will be up against a real challenge. Our opponents will give it everything they've got and we will need to withstand the pressure. In addition to our big goal, we've also set ourselves a smaller goal, which is to finish the season with the best away record of any side in the division.