Fight until the last minute: St. Pauli and Dortmund draw 3:3!

Fight until the last minute: St. Pauli and Dortmund draw 3:3!

On August 26, 2025, FC St. Pauli met Borussia Dortmund in the first Saturday evening game of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season and both teams played out a thrilling 3-3 draw. The game, which took place at the sold-out Millerntor Stadium in Hamburg, attracted 29,546 spectators and was a spectacular affair in which St. Pauli came back from being 3-1 down.

The game started with a bang: Guirassy gave Dortmund a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute after Sabitzer provided the assist. But St. Pauli was unimpressed. Hountondji equalized in the 50th minute, prompting a roar of excitement from the home fans. However, Dortmund countered and scored the goals through Anton in the 67th minute and Brandt in the 74th minute to make it 2-1 and 3-1. But St. Pauli rose again and made it 2-3 with a penalty from Sinani in the 86th minute. In a dramatic finish, Smith equalized with a long-range strike in the 89th minute, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Tensions and turning points

The game wasn't just about football. In the 74th minute, Dortmund's Mane was shown a red card for an emergency stop, leading to heated discussions on social media. The podcast “Schwatzgelb” discussed the controversial decision and interviewed Anton, who was at the Millerntor for the first time. The impressions of the viewers and the mood in the guest block were further topics of the podcast, which was over 37 minutes long.

Coach Blessin from St. Pauli and his counterpart from Dortmund, Kovac, expressed optimism before the game. St. Pauli had recently won against Eintracht Norderstedt in the DFB Cup, while Dortmund had defeated a fourth division team. With the return of Bellingham and the injuries to important players such as Can, Duranville and Süle, both teams were heavily challenged.

Bundesliga on the rise

The number of spectators in the Bundesliga is impressive and contributes to the positive development of football in Germany. According to the current report from dfl.de, the number of spectators last season was a record high of over 20 million tickets sold. These figures show that, despite minor declines in ticket demand, the Bundesliga remains the overall leader in Europe in terms of viewer interest. With an average occupancy rate of 95.2% and 15 of 18 clubs with over 90% occupancy, interest in German football remains unbroken.

The next games are already scheduled and both Borussia Dortmund and FC St. Pauli have a lot to show. With the first match day offering so much drama and emotion, we can look forward to the upcoming encounters.