Hamburg SV vs Hannover 96 – Bundesliga Preview
Hannover coach, Mirko Slomka, has set his sights firmly on a place in next season’s edition of the UEFA Champions League and has warned his players that they can’t afford to drop points in any of their remaining games this season.
The Lower Saxony side will face Hamburg SV at the Imtech Arena in a Northern Saxony derby. Only one point divide third place Hamburg and 4th placed Bayern Munich who will be facing second placed Bayer Leverkusen.
Whichever side (Bayern Munich or Hannover) drops points, will put its aim to qualify for next year’s UEFA Champions League in jeopardy.
Last week, Hannover overtook Bayern Munich after the defending Bundesliga champions drew 1-1 at Nurnberg in the Bavarian derby.
While talking to the media, Slomka said that his side should win at least 4 games out of the remaining 5 games and added, "But we are going to have to be stable for 90 minutes, not 30 like in Cologne or 60 like in Dortmund, otherwise we can forget about
the Champions League”.
Slomka admits that the game against Hamburg will be a tough test of his players’ resolve. If results don’t work out for Hannover, the club will still have a great chance to play in the Europa League next season.
However, Slomka would be looking to hold on to the final Champions League qualification berth rather than settling for Europa League football next season.
On the other hand, tonight’s hosts, Hamburg SV are also fighting for a place in Europe next season and a defeat at home will definitely end their hopes to play in the Europe (Europa League) next season.
New coach, Michael Oenning, said that if his side doesn’t win at the HSV Arena, it would take a lot of luck for his team to feature in Europe next season. However, he also said that the team is very motivated to play in Europe next season.
Meanwhile, Hamburg striker, Mladen Petric has also set his sights on Europe and has said that playing in Europe is a reward for a hard year’s work in the league. "Training the day before the game in a new stadium is an experience that you look forward to'',
said the Croatian.
Team News
Hamburg
Anis Ben-Hatira is suspended for this game so Petric will have a new winger, who would be looking to provide Petric the right crosses. It is very likely that German International, Marcell Jensen, will take Ben-Hatira’s place.
Hannover
Top goal scorer for Hannover this season, Didier Ya Konan is fit again and will be expected to lead the attack with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mohammed-Abdellaoue-c26469.
Player to watch
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mladen-Petric-c26139 – Hamburg SV
The 30-year old Croatian has been in fine form this season for Hamburg. So far, the 1.84 m tall striker has scored 11 goals and has 3 assists to his name. He will be without the services of Ben-Hatira but will be looking to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Marcell-Jansen-c23544 to provide him
with all the necessary assistance as he looks to increase his tally of goals scored this season.
Didier Ya Konan – http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hannover-96-c39492
Much of the reason behind the 96ers supreme form this season is due to the profligacy of Cote d’Ivoire international, Didier Ya Konan. The 27-year old has already scored 13 goals this season and would be looking to pose a threat to the Hamburg defensive
line-up tonight.
Tags: