FC St. Pauli loses to Bayern Munich: Block’n’Roll at Millerntor

Thomas Müller had announced: He hadn’t been to Hamburg for a long time, he wrote on social media in the middle of the week, a few years ago, to be exact: seven. It was a really long time ago for the game against HSV, which was still in the first league at the time, and Müller is right.

The last visit to Millerntor was even a few more years ago, thirteen. In 2011 it ended 1:8 from the hosts’ perspective, including Mario Gomez three times. The Kicker reported at the time that it was the 33rd matchday: “FC Bayern has finally sent FC St. Pauli into the second division.”

Even though the two clubs have only rarely met each other, there are many stories that connect them: the 2-1 win against FC St. Pauli in 2002, for example, when Mehmet Scholl, Oliver Kahn and Stefan Effenberg still played for Bayern. Afterwards, the Munich team is said to have fled the stadium, also because of the unacceptable sanitary facilities in the guest cabin.

The Paulians then flocked T-shirts with the word “Weltpokalsiegerbesieger”, a word that today’s St. Pauli player Jackson Irvine, an Australian, knew how to translate as “The defeaters of the world cup winners”. This is where the otherwise trendy English fails.

St. Pauli spent the years in which FC Bayern became German champions eleven times in a row in the second division, occasionally even on the verge of relegation. In the year that FC Bayern did not become German champions, Hamburg (unlike their neighbors from the big HSV) returned to league one, and finally there is another game of the year scheduled at Millerntor. The best joke question in the days before: “Do you still have a ticket for me?” Getting a ticket to the duel was more difficult than becoming a member of the Wagenknecht party, and even that is considered impossible. Around the stadium, many fans still held signs saying something like “My mom is still looking for a ticket for the back straight.” The success was probably manageable.

And Bayern? We were happy, at least Thomas Müller. For a team that shuttles between the league and the Champions League, a visit to the Hanseatic city is more of a short trip. They probably didn’t have time for a harbor tour. The evening before they landed at half past six and checked into a fine hotel in the city center, almost within walking distance of the St. Pauli district. The waiting Bayern fans were not rewarded for their endurance in the November cold, with only coach Vincent Kompany and player Joshua Kimmich scribbling on a few outstretched jerseys. The depravity of society could also be observed here: a grown man pushed a few teenage boys aside to get an autograph. The boys came away empty-handed.

It was also a special day for FC St. Pauli for a second reason: it was the day the first cooperative in German professional football began. Everyone is called upon to purchase shares in the club in order to expand the stadium. The club is burdened by liabilities amounting to 28 million euros. A few coaching severance payments for the guests from Munich, a whole world for the neighborhood club.

As a gift, the Bayern fans brought many flags in the colors of St. Pauli, which they waved before the game started. The supporters of the clubs that can be seen as the greatest antipodes in the German football system (champagne millionaires versus beer punks) share a friendship. Unequal and unequal like to mix. The joy of seeing each other again after all these years is even greater. The question is, what gifts will the players bring?

Jamal Musiala wrapped his up with an extra nice bow: he gets the ball in the front midfield in the 22nd minute, loses it, wins it back, hits a few ticks (he doesn’t need much space for his art) and sends the ball with everyone Power and beauty under the crossbar. Seeing this player in the stadium borders on an intoxicating experience. After that, the Bavarians slowly begin to cut off the Hamburgers’ breath. They intercept most of the balls and push the opponent deeper and deeper into their half. If Leon Goretzka, who had returned to the starting lineup, didn’t throw in a bad pass every now and then, Pauli would hardly get the ball at all.

St. Pauli defends itself against constant pressure with working-class virtues: the players go into every duel, and there is often a Pauli body between Harry Kane and the ball. Block ‘n’ Roll. But if they ever initiate their own move, a Bayern cupboard will stand in their way: the Munich team can do rustic things too; You often see Pauli players rolling across the floor, bouncing off Dayot Upamecano or Minjae Kim. Then they lie there and look desperately at the referee, but he just waves the traffic on, most of the time. According to the Pauli fans, Kim should have been shown yellow and red for his stopping actions. He doesn’t see.

Thomas Müller, who was so looking forward to Hamburg, has to watch the game, which increasingly resembles an administrative process, from the sidelines as much as possible, with funny warm-up movements. Every now and then Musiala remembers the meaning of the word momentum, while perhaps his teammates are thinking about whether they should subscribe to the shares at St. Pauli and what their bank advisor will say about it. Harry Kane misses two great chances, and then, in the 90th minute, Müller comes onto the field for a souvenir photo, and just as he is about to rush off to attack, the referee blows the game’s whistle. A cool 1-0 for the league leaders. After the game, some Pauli players expressed to reporters their vague feeling that more would have been possible. But it wasn’t.

The people of Munich should come back again, preferably with a harbor tour.