Europe Is Our Playground
Posted by Pete in Bundesliga | 16 February 2006
A mixed bag of results for the German clubs involved in Europe this week. While I 'd have liked to brought you all sorts of good news, as well as a witty and entertaining post, but sometimes there just isn't the material.
Stuttgart unsurprisingly failed to do any real damage to Middlesborough this evening, while Hamburg will be disappointed with their 1-0 away defeat to Thun especially as the Swiss club have had a rough patch since their Champions League exploits and recently parted with their manager. Hamburg are almost certain to qualify for next season's Big Cup behind Bayern and finally had the chance to measure themselves against some ex-participants of said cup.
Still, with the home leg to come, there's still hope. Which can't be said for Hertha who lost in an uninspired home leg against Bucarest. They'll also be missing a trio of players thanks to the exploits of Kevin-Prince Boateng (red), Madlung (two yellows) and Bastürk (one yellow and now suspended). Well done chaps.
So the only team to come out with real chance of reaching the next round was Schalke with a 2-1 win over Espanyol (14th in La Liga). They left it late though, with Fabian Ernst getting the winner two minutes before the end. This should be ideal mental preparation for their weekend's game that could push them towards being one point away from a Champions League spot. And their opponents? Hertha.
