There are still three days to go before SV Werder face Hamburger SV but there is already real anticipation and the feeling that the derby will be something special...
There are still three days to go before SV Werder face Hamburger SV but there is already real anticipation and the feeling that the derby will be something special...
There are still three days to go before SV Werder face Hamburger SV but there is already real anticipation and the feeling that the derby will be something special. Manager Viktor Skripnik underlined the significance of the match at the official press conference and stressed that his team want to take all three points from the game. The Ukranian wasn't concerned or fazed though by the fact that HSV will be coming to the Weser-Stadion with a new manager. "We want to focus on ourselves in the final days before the derby and aren't paying any attention to what's going on in Hamburg," he remarked.
To emphasise the importance of the derby, Skripnik reflected upon his first encounter with HSV. "When I came to Werder as a player, the game was just like any other for me. I quickly came to understand though that this fixture is the most important," commented the manager.

For some of the players, Sunday's match will be their first taste of the North derby. This means that Skripnik now has to try to pass on and instil the importance and history of the fixture to his squad. "We must continue to tell the story of the North derby to players like Jannik Vestergaard. I recalled the events of the matches in 2009 to the lads and we have also shown them a video, highlighting the magnitude of the clash," said Skripnik.
Following the defeat in Stuttgart, the Werder manager is now insisting that his players make amends on Sunday. "On the last matchday, we lost to the then bottom team and that should not happen again. We have to win," stressed the 45-year-old. Skripnik will come up against a former teammate at the Weser-Stadion: new HSV manager Bruno Labbadia played for the Green-Whites alongside the Ukranian from 1996 to 1998. The Werder manager remembers their time together well. "Bruno was a top-quality attacker back then. He used to ask me regaularly after training to put in a few extra crosses for him, even though it was time to leave," recalled Skripnik. "He is a very good and successful manager and I wish him the best of luck and success - but not on Sunday!"
Despite all the anticipation and tensions running high ahead of the derby, Skripnik made it clear at the end of his press conference that he is hoping for a quiet event. "Football is a game and not a war. I want a fair match without any violent clashes," he concluded.
