FULHAMPossessionHamburg 50%Fulham 50%Attempts on targetHamburg 0Fulham 0Attempts off targetHamburg 0Fulham 0CornersHamburg 0Fulham 0FoulsHamburg 0Fulham 0Europa League semi-finals first leg****Venue: HSH Nordbank Arena Date: Thursday 22 April Kick-off: 2005 BSTCoverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 live and live coverage on ESPN
**Fulham could have Clint Dempsey back in their side to face Hamburg after he overcame the thigh injury that has ruled him out of the last three games.**John Pantsil, Nicky Shorey and Stefano Okaka are all ineligible for the Europa League semi-final first-leg tie.
Paolo Guerrero, who is serving a domestic ban for attacking a fan, is available to play for Hamburg.
He is set to partner Ruud van Nistelrooy up front in the absence of the injured Mladen Petric.
The hosts are also without experienced Germany midfielder Marcell Jansen, who is racing to be fit in time for the World Cup.
Hamburg have added motivation to reach the Europa League final as it will be held at their home ground, the Nordbank Arena.
However, their form is not encouraging.
Having made a bright start under manager Bruno Labbadia, their Bundesliga challenge has fallen away and they are in danger of missing out on qualifying for European competition next season.
The pressure increased on Labbadia with Sunday’s home defeat by Mainz.
Fulham, on the other hand, approach the tie brimming with confidence, having begun their Europa League campaign back in July and knocked out defending champions Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus and Wolfsburg on their shock run to the semi-finals.
“We’ve done really, really well to get here and we’re eager not to let it go,” defender Aaron Hughes told the club website.
“We want to take that extra step to the final. There are a lot of us that haven’t won something so prestigious.”
Zoltan Gera, who scored twice in the win over Italian giants Juve, could again provide the support for in-form striker Bobby Zamora.
“I have not been involved in a game like this before,” said the Hungarian. "But it’s not just an important one for me, but for everyone at the club.
"Hamburg are a good side, we know that, but so were Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus and Wolfsburg. We know that on our day we are more than a match for any side. So we’ll go there with the belief that we can do well."This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
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