St. Pauli's new signing Rasmussen is an option against Leipzig

Bundesliga club FC St. Pauli can count on newly signed Norwegian Mathias Rasmussen for the catch-up match against top team RB Leipzig. Ahead of the game on Tuesday evening (20:30/Sky), coach Alexander Blessin reported that "nothing stands in the way" of the 28-year-old making the squad.

The midfielder, who had transferred from Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise to the relegation-threatened Hanseatic side, was still dealing with gastrointestinal problems in last week's Champions League match at FC Bayern Munich (0:2), according to Blessin. He sat on the bench for the entire match. "But he got through it well," said Blessin, who knows Rasmussen from their time together at Union Saint-Gilloise. So far, he has taken part in two training sessions with the Kiez club.

The lame 0-0 draw in the city derby against HSV last weekend seems to have been put behind them. "We all know that we didn't cover ourselves in glory there," said Blessin. That was "a boring game for a derby". You could see that "both teams were determined not to lose". Defender Adam Dzwigala picked up his fifth yellow card in the match and will miss the game against Leipzig.