Hamburg SV

[Trim]

Bundesliga, Matchday 26 | PREVIEW
Hamburg – Arminia Bielefeld

Three points are the order of the day for Hamburg as they look to keep their very faint title ambitions alive, or at the very least keep hold of a Champions League qualification spot.

Recent weeks have seen the Hanseaten replace Werder Bremen in second place, but also a few blips which have handed the advantage to leaders Bayern Munich. The likes of Schalke, Leverkusen and Stuttgart are hot on their tails so any more slip-ups are likely to prove costly.

The word free-fall seems like it was designed for Bielefeld. From the lofty position of second in the opening weeks of the season, the Arminen have tumbled down the table and sit precariously one position above the relegation zone. A change of trainer hasn’t had the desired effect and Michael Frontzeck is still awaiting his first win.

An improved performance was seen last week as they held Werder Bremen to a draw, but an away win at Hamburg may be asking too much. Bielefeld will be delighted with a point and staying out of the bottom three for another week.

[Trim]

Hamburger SV 1 - 1 Arminia Bielefeld

72' [0 - 1] M. Bollmann
83' [1 - 1] J.P. Guerrero

Hamburg 1-1 Arminia Bielefeld

After a red card for HSV and a one goal lead, Bielefeld looked on course for a valuable win, but ten-man Hamburg fought back to rescue a point and eventually finished with ten against ten following another sending off.

All the action came in the second half at the HSH Nordbank Arena. Midfielder David Jarolim was given his marching orders after 66 minutes following a set-to with Schuler on the bye-line. Six minutes later and the HSV defence fell asleep at a corner and had to look on as Bollmann headed home.

With just eight minutes remaining Paulo Guerrero latched onto a Zidan ball before firing past Rowan Fernandez in the Bielefeld goal. Jorg Böhme was then sent-off five minutes from time for a second yellow card.

[Vargas_4]

Hamburg trainer Huub Stevens was left dissatisfied with yet more dropped points on an afternoon when the Hanseaten could have closed the gap on league leaders Bayern Munich.

A 1-1 home draw against struggling Arminia Bielefeld has to be seen as twp points dropped for Huub Stevens’ Hamburg side as they had to come from behind with ten men to grab a point at the HSH Nordbank Arena.

“Of course I’m not happy” he grumbled after the match. “We knew it would be a difficult game. However, we lacked the freshness against a team that was well organised and fought well. Why that is, I don’t know.

“At the end we have to be satisfied with a point, but that is not enough for HSV. I also won’t accept such indiscipline from David Jarolim” he added in view of the defensive midfielders senseless red card.

Michael Frontzeck on the other hand was delighted with the point, and believes the club are on the right track for Bundesliga survival.

“I am very happy with the performance of my team, and it was a very good away performance” he said.

“In the end we didn’t make the most of our counter attacking opportunities. If we had we would have taken more from the game.

“The team has however sent out the right signal and I am optimistic that we will win our fight to stay up.”

***

Goal.com - Hamburg - Stevens Unhappy With HSV Performance

[Trim]

Bundesliga, Matchday 27 | PREVIEW
Stuttgart – Hamburg

There is a crunch game at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion with three important points up for grabs as Stuttgart look to push into the top five, while Hamburg look to consolidate their position in second and maybe put some pressure on leaders Bayern.

The home side will have to face HSV without their prolific goal scorer Mario Gomez, who is out of action for two weeks with a thigh injury. That will be a severe blow to the Swabians as Gomez has been one of the mahor reasons for their recent surge up the table with eight goals in the last seven games.

Hamburg remain second in the table but have Schalke, Leverkusen and Werder hot on their heels. The Hanseaten were held to draws in their last two games and there has been much discussion over the perceived drop in form of captain Rafael van der Vaart.

Huub Stevens also has a personnel crisis to overcome with David Jarolim and Joris Mathijsen both suspended and forwards Ivica Olic and Paulo Guerrero out injured.

[Vargas_4]

Stuttgart 1-0 Hamburg

VfB Stuttgart climbed into the top five for the first time this season with a 1-0 win over Hamburg at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion. A first half strike from midfielder Roberto Hilbert proved enough to take all three points for the Swabians.

The defeat however sees HSV give up second place to Schalke and continue their recent poor run of form.

***

Goal.com - Bundesliga - Bundesliga Round-Up: Schalke Go Second, Werder Back In The Running

[Trim]

HSV to play in Emirates Cup

Arsenal will host European heavyweights Real Madrid, Juventus and Hamburg in the pre-season Emirates Cup in August.

The event, being staged for the second year, will be held on August 2 and 3 at the Emirates Stadium.

"We are delighted at the calibre of the three visiting teams to this year's Emirates Cup," said Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman.

SportingLife.com

[Vargas_4]

Should be very interesting to see what Hamburg can do there. Taking the fact that Van der Vaart is in high demand, it's more than likely for him to leave this summer (like Diego too)...

[Trim]

Bundesliga, Matchday 28 | PREVIEW
Hamburg – Duisburg

If HSV are to have real designs on Champions League football next season, then a home win over relegation threatened Duisburg is a must. However, the fact that the Zebras will be fighting tooth and nail for survival with provide Hamburg with a tougher match than it looks on paper.

The Zebras are currently bottom of the table but will be looking for a repeat of the result they achieved on their last visit to North Germany, when they beat Werder Bremen at the Weser Stadion.

[Trim]

Hamburger SV 0 - 1 Duisburg

54' [0 - 1] I. Grlic

Hamburg 0-1 Duisburg

Duisburg climbed off the bottom of the table with a shock 1-0 win over Hamburg at the HSH Nordbank Arena as HSV’s poor form continued and they dropped out of the Champions league places.

A very lethargic Hamburg deserved to lose in a game in which they struggled against a relegation threatened side.

The only goal of the game came in the second half via Ivica Grlic in the 54th minute as he latched onto a Lamey throw-in before firing in a slightly deflected shot past Frank Rost.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Shocking.

HSV have gone downhill since February and they have probably lost the battle for 2nd place.

VdV is definitely going to leave now.

[Trim]

Hamburg are likely to be without coach Huub Stevens for Tuesday's trip to Hertha Berlin.

The Dutch boss has travelled back to Holland to be with his wife who is undergoing cancer surgery.

"The most important thing is the health of his wife," sporting director Dietmar Beiersdorfer said. "That is the sole support we can give Huub and his wife."

Assistant coach Markus Schupp took training in the absence of Stevens and will be his boss and will be in charge of the team against Hertha.

"We have been in constant contact," said Schupp. "There should not be a problem. We have been discussing everything."

Fifth-placed Hamburg will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing 1-0 home loss to a Duisburg side which had been bottom of the table.

"We need to be more aggressive," Schupp said. "We know that we did not do well against Duisburg."

Thimothee Atouba and Rafael van der Vaart are unavailable as they are both serving a one-game ban after picking up their fifth bookings.

Romeo Castelen (knee surgery) and David Jarolim, suspended following his red card against Arminia Bielefeld, are also out.

The capital club will be without the injured Steve von Bergen and Raffael (both thigh), Marko Pantelic (calf) and Lucio (knee surgery).

Hertha go into the clash on the back of a 1-1 draw at Bochum, and skipper Arne Friedrich hopes his team-mates can cope with two games in such a short space of time.

"It will be a very difficult match for two reasons," the Germany international said. "First the time to recover has been very short and secondly Hamburg will be keen to make amends for the home loss against Duisburg.

"It will be an exciting game."

SportingLife.com

[Trim]

Bundesliga, Matchday 29 | PREVIEW
Hertha Berlin – Hamburg

Talk of a crisis at Hamburg is becoming ever louder after the Hanseaten lost their second successive game at the weekend. The home defeat to Duisburg followed on from their defeat to Stuttgart and has seen Huub Stevens side take just two points from a possible twelve and slump to fifth in the table.

Hertha are also in decline and are by no means assured of safety this season if their current form continues. Their last six games have brought just three points with three defeats amongst them. The capital club continue to struggle without the services of star striker Marko Pantelic.

Both sides are struggling at the moment and would receive a huge boost from a three point haul on Tuesday. Hamburg will however be without their trainer Huub Stevens for the trip to the capital because he has had to travel back to Eindhoven to see his wife who is ill.

[Vargas_4]

Hertha Berlin 0-0 Hamburg

A poor quality game at the Olympiastadion ended goalless and that is what it deserved. The result is a further blow to HSV’s Champions League ambitions.

Hamburg should have taken the lead as early as the first minute after Olic latched onto an under-hit back pass from Skacel. The Croatian rounded Drobny in the Hertha goal but could only direct his shot into the side netting.

The half then deteriorated into a poor game with just one further chance falling to Ben-Hatira, who had come on to replace the injured Sorin.

The home side did get the ball into net on 61 minutes through Piszczek but it was rightly ruled out for offside. Hamburg also had a great chance to open the scoring on 75 minutes with a penalty, but Ivica Olic saw his effort go wide with the keeper diving completely the wrong way.

In the end the 0-0 matched the quality of the game

***

Goal.com - Germany - Bundesliga Round-Up: Schalke Hit Five, Werder Win

[Trim]

Bundesliga, Matchday 30 | PREVIEW
Hamburg – Schalke

One of the big matches of the weekend takes place at the HSH Nordbank Arena as third place Schalke take on fourth place Hamburg as the battle for one of the Champions League spots hots up.

Hamburg this season looked for a long time like they were a sure bet for a top three finish but a slump in form has seen them overtaken by the likes of Werder Bremen and Schalke and the season for HSV is in danger over finishing with a real anti-climax.

They are without a win in their last five matches. Schalke on the other hand are looking like they have hit a purple patch at just the right time of the season.

Having lost to Barcelona in the Champions League and 5-1 to Werder in the league, Mirko Slomka lost his job. The first game under caretakers Mike Büskens and Youri Mulder saw the Königsblauen trounce Energie Cottbus 5-0. Saturday’s game promises to be a fascinating encounter.