Hamburg SV

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GUERRERO SET TO MISS OUT

Hamburg could be without striker Paolo Guerrero for the home game against Wolfsburg.

The youngster, who scored one and set up another goal in the 3-0 victory at Borussia Dortmund, has been bothered by stomach pain.

"We don't know whether he will play on Saturday or not,'' coach Huub Stevens revealed.

But the coach is still optimistic his players can preserve their great form from Tuesday night's triumph.

"We look to continue where we left it,'' he said.

"We played a good match but must not think about it any more. Wolfsburg have proven how strong they are.''

Stevens will definitely be missing influential midfielder Romeo Castelen, who pulled a groin muscle and will be out for at least two weeks.

Juan Pablo Sorin (unfit), Thimothee Atouba (suspended), Vincent Kompany (groin) and Collin Benjamin (knee surgery) all add to Hamburg's injury worries.

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Hamburger SV 2 - 2 Wolfsburg

17' [1 - 0] B. Reinhardt
57' [1 - 1] Grafite (pen.)
70' [2 - 1] R.v.d. Vaart
88' [2 - 2] A. Dejagah

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Hamburger SV celebrate their 120th club anniversary but fail to beat VfL Wolfsburg in their 1,500th Bundesliga match.

In front of 54,055 spectators Bastian Reinhardt (17) and captain Rafael van der Vaart (70) were on target for the hosts.

Grafite (penalty, 57) and Ashkan Dejagah (88) twice equalised for the guests.

"Wolves" attack from the start

Wolfsburg (who are coached by former HSV legend Felix Magath) didn´t sit back waiting but started the match in surprisingly offensive fashion. They attacked the hosts already in midfield and by that controlled the early phase of the match.

They ware unlucky when Jacek Krzynowek whacked a ball against the crossbar in the very first minute of the match as Hamburg´s goalie Frank Rost would surely not have got his hands to the ball.

After ten minutes Wolfsburg´s skipper Marcelinho missed the HSV-goal from a tight angle.

Reinhardt from a corner

But then the hosts more and more gained control of the match and in the 13th minute Paolo Guerrero´s header missed the target by inches.

Four minutes later HSV took the lead when defender Reinhardt headed in from a corner.

Unlucky Guerrero

Hamburg then had the match clearly under control and should have scored a nerve-easing second goal before the break.

Guerrero had the greatest chance to score in the 25th minute but his shot was cleared off the line by Alexander Madlung.

Goal-premiere for Grafite

The beginning of the second half was similar to that of the first: Wolfsburg, again, tried to put Hamburg under pressure. Hamburg defended deep and waited for a chance to break.

The equaliser came as a bit of a surprise. Nigel de Jong lost a duel in the air against Marcelinho who then stormed into the penalty box where he was brought down by Mathijsen.

Wolfsburg´s new Brazilian signing Grafite stepped up to take the penalty and scored his first ever goal for the "Wolves".

Van der Vaart´s run continues

After that Hamburg again stepped up a gear in offense and were then lucky to go in front again when a 25 meter free-kick from their skipper van der Vaart sailed through the box and in at the far post.

HSV-midfileder de Jong tried to get his head to the ball but didn´t touch it which meant that van der Vaart had scored his sixth goal in six consecutive matches.

In the dying minutes Hamburg , again, stood back and defended deep while Wolfsburg pushed for the equaliser and were justly rewarded shortly before the final whistle.

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Very surprising outcome.

Never thought HSV would drop points against Wolfsburg, for more because they played home.

[Super Pibe #7]

Gurrero missed some great chances.

Though I have to say wolfsburg look good going forward. Marcelinho and grafite linked up well.

Marcelinho shouldn’t have got a penalty though. Before the challenge mathijsen he controlled the ball with his hand.

Olic looks like a shadow of the player he once was. Also zidan isn’t playing often, maybe he will save another team from relegation ?

Also great to see dejagah score, has been great in youth level for german u21 sides, but he was poor last season for hertha berlin. Hopefully he can score more goals this season.

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Originally Posted by Super Pibe #7

Also zidan isn’t playing often, maybe he will save another team from relegation ?

True, Zidan is not playing often.

I thought he would start every match for HSV being fit.

I really feel sorry for the lad, think he deserves to start.

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Litex still stand in the way, but HSV already plan for the group stages ahead of the UEFA Cup 1st round, 2nd leg match on Thursday (18:15).

"We need to make a mark in Europe once again at last", chairman Bernd Hoffmann demands. HSV have a 1-0 advantage from the first leg.

Bielefeld in mind

Litex Lovech themselves have little hope to turn the tables. "It will be very difficult, but we will fight", declared Litex coach Ferario Spassow.

Some HSV players already have the next Bundesliga match in Bielefeld on Saturday in mind. "Ideally we open the throttle from the start. Maybe we will then be able to take it easier at the end", midfielder Nigel de Jong said.

Atouba returns

Hamburg will definitely be without Belgian international Vincent Kompany and Dutchman Romeo Castelen, who scored the goal in the first leg.

Jerome Boateng will be replaced by Thimothee Atouba, whose ban only applies to the Bundesliga.

Line-ups as expected:

Hamburger SV: Rost - Brecko, Reinhardt, Mathijsen, Atouba - Jarolim, de Jong - Trochowski, van der Vaart, Olic - Guerrero.

Litex: Todorow - Robert Popow, Nikolow, Uras, Wenkow - Dudu, Boudarene, Sandrinho, Wellington - Beto, Iwelin Popow.

Referee: Paul Allaerts (Belgium)

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After overcoming a shock deficit Hamburger SV hit back and qualified for the next round in the UEFA Cup by beating Litex Lovech 3-1 (ht 1-1).

After the 1-0 win in the first leg a fortnight ago the Hanseatics in the beginning had more problems than expected to make it into the next round.

Guerrero decides match

Peruvian international Paolo Guerrero secured Hamburg´s qualification for the next round with his two goals (40, 52) before super-star Rafael van der Vaart added a third goal (72). Lovech had surprisingly taken the lead through their skipper Robert Popov (38).

"It´s about time that we make a mark on the international stage�, said HSV-president Bernd Hoffmann before the match.

Exceptional achievement

Now Hamburg will be in the pots for the draw for the group stages in Lyon next Tuesday (October 9th).

This is an exceptional achievement especially after Hamburg´s poor last season which saw the North Germans drop down to 18th position in the Bundesliga table at some point.

Rock-solid defence

The Bulgarians had not at all come to Hamburg to go out of the competition without showing resistance. "We want to defend our good reputation�, announced their coach Ferrario Spasov before the match. And in front of 38,212 the guests started the match well-organised.

They were solid in defence for long stretches of the match and tried to disrupt Hamburg´s game as early as possible. The Hanseatics found it difficult to get near Lovech´s box, passes often went astray and there wasn´t enough movement down the flanks.

Unlucky Trochowski

Most chances in the first half resulted from long-range efforts. Guy Demel was denied by impressive Lovech-goalie Todorov (20) who also saved shots from van der Vaart and Piotr Trochowski (both tries in the 32nd minute).

Trochowski was also unlucky to see a shot from 20 metres go inches wide.

Surprise lead

And it looked like those missed chances would come back to haunt Hamburg when Lovech used one of their few counter-attacks to take the lead. Robert Popov fooled Timothee Atouba and shot in at the near post leaving HSV-keeper Frank Rost no chance.

But Hamburg quickly recovered from that shock and scored the well-deserved equaliser with their very next move. Guerrero struck with an fantastic overhead scissor-kick after a cross from van der Vaart.

Guerrero decides match

Seven minutes after the break Guerreo (who again had been chosen over Mohamed Zidan by HSV-coach Huub Stevens) then practically decided the match when he nicked the ball from Lovech-defender Plamen Nikolov deep in the Bulgarian´s half, then outplayed their goalie Todorov and netted in coolly for the 2-1.

Six minutes later Guerrero could have put the icing on the cake when, after a corner, he was free in front of goal but placed his header wide.

Van der Vaart on target

HSV-skipper van der Vaart finally dispelled all doubts after 72 minutes when he met a cross from Atouba and headed in for the final 3-1.

After that coach Steevens took of some of his key players to give them some rest before the Bundesliga match on Saturday at Bielefeld. Maxim Choupo-Moting came on for van der Vaart, Mohamed Zidan replaced Guerrero.

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Well done HSV. Very expected win.

Interesting to see Rafa on the scorersheet again.
He's been scoring very often lately.

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Stevens Proud Of Hamburg

Hamburg trainer Huub Stevens was a proud man after overseeing his side beat Litex Lovech 3-1 at home to progress to the group stages of the Uefa Cup.

Despite going a goal behind, goals from Paulo Guerrero and captain Rafael van der Vaart saw the Hanseaten through.

“We were bottom of the Bundesliga last season with 15 points from 20 games, and now we find ourselves in the group phase of the Uefa Cup. We can all be very proud of HSV” the trainer explained.

“I said after the away leg that it was only half time. You could see that tonight against a very organised team in Lovech.

“We had to be patient, play at a higher tempo than our opponents, and use the space available to us” he continued.

Goal.com - UEFA Cup - Stevens Proud Of Hamburg

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Arminia Bielefeld 0 - 1 Hamburger SV

49' [0 - 1] R.v.d. Vaart

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A goal from Rafael van der Vaart put Hamburg up among the Bundesliga leaders and equalled a long-held club record set by HSV legend Uwe Seeler.

Van der Vaart's all-important strike in the 49th minute gave Hamburg thre points away to Arminia Bielefeld. It was also the seventh Bundesliga game in a row in which he had found the net.

The last HSV player to achieve that was Uwe Seeler, way back in the first-ever Bundesliga season, 1963-64.

Fourth defeat in a row

The result puts Hamburg on a four-game unbeaten streak and moves them at least temporarily to within three points of league leaders Bayern München, who host 1. FC Nürnberg on Sunday.

Arminia, meanwhile, continue in freefall after their promising start to the season. They have now lost four on the trot, scoring one goal and conceding 14 in the process, and are moving ever closer to the drop zone.

Changed line-up

Coach Ernst Middendorp made four changes to the side thrashed 8-1 at Bremen last week, as well as switching from a 4-2-2-2 system to 4-1-1-4.

The tactic intially seemed to be paying off, with the hosts looking compact early on and creating the first real scoring opportunities through Sibusiso Zuma (11.) and Jörg Böhme (13.). HSV, "fresh" from Thursday's UEFA Cup win over Litex Lovech, started cautiously and only came close to goal for the first time in the 36th minute.

Hain with no chance

Van der Vaart himself looked to be having a quiet game - up until the point, four minutes after the break, when he took a long pass from Jerome Boateng and rifled the ball in at the far post, past a helpless Matthias Hain in the Bielefeld goal.

Arminia battled valiantly for an equaliser after that, but found no way through a solid HSV defence.

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Well done HSV!

Rafa is on fire.

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Hamburg face a number of tough tests after being drawn in Group D for the Uefa Cup group stages.

The Hanseaten will face Dinamo Zagreb, Rennes, FC Basel and Norwegian side Brann.

“I think it’s a group with some very difficult opponents” admitted Sports director Dietmar Beiersdorfer.

“Dinamo already look impressive and have shown how strong they are, and a hot reception will await us in Zagreb.

“For years Basel have been the measure of all Swiss teams and with Rennes we expect a strong, disciplined team. Brann are unknown to us, but we will not be underestimating them” he added.

Trainer Huub Stevens is looking forward to pitting his wits against some new teams for him.

“As a trainer I have never played these sides before. We will watch them, collect information and prepare ourselves well” he explained.

He however sees Dinamo Zagreb as perhaps his team’s most dangerous opponent.

“Dinamo is a strong side, who have already knocked-our Ajax. They also showed against Werder in the Champions League that they will not make life easy for us.”

Goal.com - UEFA Cup - Uefa Cup Draw: Stern Tests Await Hamburg