Hamburg vs. Hertha Berlin: play-off second leg probable teams, match stats and LIVE blog!

Latest

Although Glatzel didn't get on the scoresheet at the Olympiastadion on Thursday, it is very much advantage Hamburg after Ludovit Reis gave them a 1-0 advantage to take back to the Volksparkstadion. That being said, HSV will remember last year's play-off when Holstein Kiel won their first leg by a solitary goal at Cologne but were thumped 5-1 at home in the reverse to end their promotion dream. And midfielder Jonas Meffert has therefore called for calm, saying: "You don't sit in the changing room celebrating at half-time". He and Reis were somewhat surprisingly joined in midfield by Maximilian Rohr, who hadn't played since April. If he's come through his 60 minutes unscathed, there is little reason for Tim Walter to want to change his team as he looks to get this result over the line and end HSV's four-year Bundesliga absence.

Although it's Hamburg with a lead, it's still Hertha with everything to lose. They must win at the Volksparkstadion to extend their current top-flight stay into a 10th season. Any victory by a one-goal margin takes the tie to extra-time, since away goals are no longer used in the play-offs. Boateng remained an unused substitute in the first leg, while coach Felix Magath - who made all 306 Bundesliga appearances as a player for HSV - also has a decision to make in goal. First choice so far under the ex-Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg boss, Marcel Lotka missed the first leg with concussion. Oliver Christensen came in for his first appearance of the season, but Lotka is expected to return for this decisive leg. Top scorer Stevan Jovetic should also get the nod after an industrious second-half appearance. It leaves a place for Ishak Belfodil or teenager Luca Wollschläger, with goals needed and Davie Selke still a doubt.

Match stats

Glatzel was second in the Bundesliga 2 scoring chart with 22 goals, while Sonny Kittel was runner-up for assists (12).

Those two are the only HSV players with more goals this season than first-leg hero Reis (six).

Hamburg have still never lost a Bundesliga play-off match (W2, D3) or conceded more than one goal in any of those games (only three in total).

Jovetic had two of Hertha six attempts on goal in the first leg. The Montenegrin is the Old Lady's top scorer this season with seven.

There is no club the Berliners have beaten more times in the Bundesliga than HSV (30, plus D13, L27). They have won eight of the last 10 league encounters, with four at least by the two-goal margin they need here.

The Bundesliga club has won the two-legged play-off in 17 out of 23 renditions, including eight of the last nine years. But Hertha are one of those to have gone down and would become the first team to be relegated twice via the play-off.

Probable teams

Hamburg: Heuer Fernandes - Heyer, Vuskovic, Schonlau (c), Muheim - Reis, Meffert, Rohr - Jatta, Glatzel, Kittel

Out: Leibold (knee), Suhonen (broken leg)

Doubtful -

Coach: Tim Walter

Hertha: Lotka - Pekarik, Boyata (c), Kempf, Plattenhardt - Serdar, Tousart, Ascacibar, Mittelstädt - Wollschläger, Jovetic

Out: Jarstein (knee), Klünter (shoulder), Lee (ankle), Schwolow (thigh)

Doubtful: Dardai (hip), Selke (muscular)

Coach: Felix Magath

About the clubs Hamburger SV

Volksparkstadion

Hertha Berlin

Olympiastadion

Share