I looked at theBundesliga table this morning and noticed that Hamburg have drawn most of their matches this season. They are doing quite well in Bundesliga, sitting in 6th place, three points away from securing another Europa League spot. They have drawn 12 games this season which is more than anyone in their league. It is in fact one game more than they have won!
What do we make of this? This could mean two things. It is very possible that their draws often come from throwing leads away. If this is true then we can definitely get a result in Hamburg. On the other hand, it could mean that they have excellent spirit and will fightback from anything. That is something that Fulham will have to bear in mind, especially at home.
I think we will be fine. Hamburg only have two points more than Wolfsburg and if we get a result in Hamburg then we can definitely win at home. Even if we do lose in Hamburg let’s just cast our minds back to Juventus!
They’ve only got a couple more points than Wolfsberg have this season in the Bundesliga. From that you can deduce that they are a little better than our most recent opponents (as would be expected), but we should be good enough to compete, and progressing is a real possibility.
They do have some good players – I particularly rate Markus Berg, and would have loved to have seen him in a Fulham shirt. van Nistlerooy is always dangerous, but he may be cup tied. Ze Roberto, Petric and Guerrero can’t be ignored either. But we’ve dealt with Trezeguet, Grafite and Dzeko among others.
Marcus berg was one that I really wanted Fulham to sign in thesummer. Hopefully he doesn’t prove many of us right against us!
Unfortunately Ruud is not cup tied, despite playing for Madrid in the Champions League. He’s scored 2 in 4 for Hamburg in the Europa.
As for draw specialists – someone told me Athletico Madrid have won just one of their last 15 European ties. Yet here they are in a semi-final! Got to fancy Liverpool’s chances there.