Sports

Thursday April 30, 2009

Battle between Ukraine, Germany in semis

PARIS: Germany and Ukraine are both guaranteed a finalist in this season’s UEFA Cup, with two of the top sides from each nation facing off against each other in today’s semi-final first legs.

Runaway Ukrainian league leaders Dynamo Kiev host reigning domestic champions Shakhtar Donetsk in the country’s capital, with Werder Bremen then welcoming Hamburg to the Weserstadion in north-western Germany.

Eye on revenge: Werder Bremen celebrating after defeating Hamburg in the semi-final of the German Cup on April 22. Hamburg have a chance to gain revenge when they meet again in the last four of the UEFA Cup today. — Reuters

National bragging rights will not be the only thing at stake.

The final in Istanbul’s Sukru Saracoglu Stadium will be the last game in the competition before its re-launch as the UEFA Europa League next season, so whoever prevails on May 20 will go down as the last ever UEFA Cup champions.

Martin Jol’s Hamburg go into the game off the back of a 2-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Saturday, but they remain just three points off leaders Wolfsburg in fifth place as one of Germany’s tightest title races in years gathers pace.

The 1983 European champions have revenge in their sights, having being beaten 3-1 on penalties by Bremen in the semi-finals of the German Cup last week.

“Bremen are not better than us,” said Hamburg midfielder Piotr Trochowski afterwards. “Look at where they are in the Bundesliga. We have had a superb season and maybe we will get our revenge in the UEFA Cup.”

Just as great as the blow of defeat for Hamburg was the loss of their Croatia international striker Mladen Petric, who looks set to miss both legs of the UEFA Cup tie with a shin injury inflicted by Bremen’s Brazilian stopper Naldo.

Bremen, meanwhile, are expecting to be without Finnish defender Petri Pasanen, who recently underwent surgery on a toe problem.

“I don’t know if I’ll be back in time for the Hamburg match, but at the moment it doesn’t look like it,” said Pasanen, whose side came back from two goals down to win 3-2 at home to Bochum at the weekend.

Dynamo and Shakhtar saw off two of the top sides from France in the last round, with Dynamo beating Paris St-Germain 3-0 on aggregate and Shakhtar demolishing French champions-elect Marseille 4-1.

The teams have also been drawn against each other in the last four of the Ukrainian Cup on May 13, while Dynamo currently enjoy a 12-point lead over their rivals in the Ukrainian first division.

Shakhtar’s well-travelled Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu has complained about the state of his side’s Olympiysky pitch prior to the second leg on May 7.

“The pitch at Olimpiysky is destroying our play,” he said. “As a coach, I feel ashamed to make my players perform on a pitch like this.” — AFP

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