Over the years, the traditional rival of Hamburger SV has always been Werder Bremen. This tension has been built up from nearly a century of competing with one and other up until the present day. 

This rivalry is also founded on geographic location, and of course the supporters have a strong distaste for each other, but really there is little reason for the two Northern teams to dislike each other. Of course, the history behind the rivalry means the hatred will never stop, and in 1982 fan clashes resulted in the death of a Werder fan, the first football violence related death in German history.

St. Pauli are another team that Hamburg have a very strong dislike for, but because they have spent most of their existence in the 2. Bundesliga, they simply haven't played enough to form a classic rivalry. Despite being from the same city, the differences between the two clubs couldn't be bigger, so whenever the two sides do meet it is always an emotional encounter.

However, Bayer Leverkusen have a case for being the new enemy of Hamburg. Bayer attract a lot of negativity from fans all around the country for the club they are, sometimes being called a “plastic club” due to the multi-billion euro company that backs them. Nevertheless, there are three reasons that give HSV even more reason to hate them.

1. The Josip Drmić situation.

When word first got round at the beginning of January that Hamburg were trying to sign Leverkusen forward Drmić, there was a lot of excitement at the Hanseatic city as it was an answer to the desperate need for goals.

Yet here we are, three weeks later, and due to any one of a number of reasons the Swiss forward hasn't yet joined HSV, despite being apparently “desperate” to do so. Personal terms have being agreed between Hamburg and Drmić, but Leverkusen appear to be dragging out the negotiations as they cant find an adequate replacement.

It is the sort of complication that can ruin the deal, but ultimately Bayer would be risking keeping an unhappy player, nevertheless it is frustrating to see why the deal hasn't gone through from a HSV perspective. Hopefully Bayer get their replacement, but until now its a frustrating waiting game.

Peter Knäbal and Michael Schade entered a war of words on the issue.

"In the Drmić situation, we could explain everything.” Knäbel let it be known.

This clearly wound up Schade, who responded abruptly and accused him of naivety. Be "The Hamburger apparently talk a lot when the day is long," he said with a certain smugness.

Knäbel tried to stop the war the next day. "We do not play ping pong," he said to the MOPO.

”Also, I've said that the ball is with Leverkusen. There's nothing more to say.”

Needless to say, relations between the two men are wearing thing, and as events continue to unfold it may get hotter before anything is sorted. It will be interesting to see how this one goes. 

2. Hakan Çalhanoğlu

Yet another bit of transfer-based tension between the two clubs, but in this case a player going in the other direction.

I suppose when looking at the situation as a whole, Leverkusen haven't done anything wrong. They saw a player they wanted, offered a fee to HSV who accepted, and the player was off.

Again though this links back to the negative attitudes towards Bayer. They are a rich club, not on the same level as PSG or Real Madrid, but certainly in the scheme of the Bundesliga they have a healthy financial backing.

In the end the fee for Hakan Çalhanoğlu was €14.5million, an astronomical fee for a 19-year-old, but he was a beloved Hamburg player with amazing technique and the ability to amaze with his masterful free kicks. Perhaps ultimately it was the decision of Çalhanoğlu to leave eventually, but he was without a doubt unsettled by Bayer and his head was then turned.

Scoring 11 in 32 between 2012 and 2014 for HSV, Hakan will not be forgotten because of the amazing moments he produced. However, with most Hamburg supporters, his legacy is tainted and damaged slightly.

3. Levin Öztunalı

Then, to top it all off, we have this situation. Son of Frauke, Uwe Seeler’s daughter, Levin Öztunalı took after his Grandfather and played in the academy at Hamburg for seven years from 2006-2013. Having grown up in Norderstedt and played for Eintracht Norderstedt, he seemed destined to be a member of Die Rothosen.

For whatever reason (higher wages, namely) he chose to join Leverkusen in 2013, causing some to question his loyalty and indeed wonder if he had betrayed the legacy of his Grandfather. As if that wasn't enough, Levin Öztunalı accepted a loan move to Werder Bremen, of all teams, during the current Winter Break.

Unbelievably, Öztunalı had gone from following in the footsteps to directly going against Seeler’s roots, and fans of HSV understandably want nothing to do with the 18-year-old from now on.

Perhaps from the outside, it made sense for him to move to a team that is now established at European level and has a good track record of developing young players. But, it is sad in many ways that he did chose that path, because he could yet become a fantastic player in central midfield, and Hamburg will not get to benefit from this despite Seeler’s service to the club.

Again, this debate could go on for a long time, and it could be said that Levin Öztunalı’s career has nothing to do with that of his Grandfather’s, but persuading the HSV hard-core of that is a different issue.

So there you have it, three fairly recent examples of why Hamburg fans are developing (if not already developed) a real dislike of Bayer. Things may only get worse and more tense as the years go on, but with any luck both sides will be contending near the top end of the table soon so the rivalry can be a healthy one. Who knows, maybe HSV will give Leverkusen some reasons to hate them, that's the beauty of football, you just don't know what is around the corner.