Istanbul beckons for German derby rivals

The 33rd all-German UEFA club competition tie – and the 27th in the UEFA Cup – brings together Hanseatic derby rivals Werder Bremen and Hamburger SV, who meet for a place in the Istanbul final on 20 May.

Previous European meetings: none

Bremen's record against German clubs: P10 W3 D2 L5
Bremen's record at home against German clubs: P5 W2 D2 L1
Hamburg's record against German clubs: P6 W3 D2 L1
Hamburg's record away against German clubs: P3 W0 D2 L1

• There is a long history of German encounters in the UEFA Cup. This will be the seventh all-German semi-final, and in 1979/80 all the teams in the last four came from the former West Germany. Eintracht Frankfurt beat FC Bayern München in one semi-final, with VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach beating VfB Stuttgart in the other. Eintracht won the final on away goals, losing 3-2 away but winning 1-0 at home in the second leg.

• The most recent all-German UEFA Cup semi-final came in 1988/89, when Stuttgart eliminated SC Dynamo Dresden after a 1-0 home win and 1-1 away draw, before losing to Diego Maradona's SSC Napoli in the final.

• A season earlier, Bremen came up against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the last four, losing 1-0 away and drawing 0-0 at home.

• Bremen's joint-heaviest home defeat in the competition came against German opposition in 1982/83, when they succumbed 2-0 to FC Vörwarts Frankfurt-an-der-Oder in the first round. However, they had already triumphed 3-1 in the first leg and progressed on away goals.

• That was also Bremen's first continental meeting with another German team. A season later they were knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the second round by 1. FC Lokomotiv Leipzig (0-1 away, 1-1 home) and kicked off their 1988/89 European Champion Clubs' Cup campaign against East German side Berliner FC Dynamo, winning 5-0 at home after a 3-0 away reverse.

• Bremen's most recent European tie with a German side came against Hannover 96 in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round in 1992/93, when as defending champions they won 3-1 at home followed by a 2-1 away loss.

• The most recent all-German European encounter took place last year, when Hamburg met Leverkusen in the UEFA Cup Round of 16. Hamburg lost the opening leg 1-0 away and, despite winning the second game 3-2, were eliminated on away goals. Before that, Hamburg had played in two previous all-German ties before, one in the UEFA Cup and one in the European Champion Clubs' Cup.

• Back in the 1974/75 UEFA Cup, they met Dynamo Dresden in the third round, winning 4-1 at home and drawing 2-2 in Dresden. Hamburg went on to lose to Juventus in the quarter-finals.

• In the 1982/83 European Cup, they met Berliner in the first round, drawing 1-1 away and then winning 2-0 at home. Hamburg went on to win the competition, beating Juventus 1-0 in the final with Felix Magath scoring the only goal in Athens.

Previous domestic meetings

• Bremen and Hamburg have faced each other 89 times in Bundesliga history. The Weserstadion outfit have recorded 29 wins to Hamburg's 28, the other 32 games ending in draws. Bremen have scored 130 goals in that time to Hamburg's 135.

• At home, Bremen have won 20 of their matches against Hamburg, losing nine and drawing 15. In those encounters, the hosts have outscored their opponents 78 goals to 56.

• In the all-time Bundesliga points table, Bremen lie second and Hamburg an extremely close third. Despite Bremen having contested one top-flight season less than their rivals, they boast seven more points overall – 2380 to HSV's 2373.

• So far this season, the two teams have met once in the league, Hamburg running out 2-1 winners at home. José Paolo Guerrero and Ivica Olić scored their goals, with Diego responding for Bremen.

• They will resume their Bundesliga rivalry at the Weserstadion on 10 May, three days after their semi-final second leg.

• In domestic knockout competitions, the two clubs have crossed paths eight times, seven of those encounters coming in the German Cup, the most recent taking place on 22 April. The other meeting occurred in the 2005/06 German League Cup. Bremen have won six of those ties (1972, 1989, 1991, 1993, 2006 and 2009) to Hamburg's two (1935 and 1982).

• Hamburg played host to Bremen in a German Cup semi-final last week, the visitors triumphing 3-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the Arena Hamburg. Per Mertesacker had given Bremen an early lead, but Olić responded and with Hamburg captain David Jarolím sent off and no further goals, the tie was decided in a shoot-out where Tim Wiese saved three spot-kicks to secure a final place for the away side.

• Bremen's biggest win against their rivals was a 6-0 home victory from the 2003/04 Bundesliga season, while Hamburg managed to put together 5-0 wins in 1979/80 and two seasons later.

Team information

• Thomas Schaaf is the longest serving coach currently operating in the Bundesliga, having joined Bremen in May 1999. Before that, he spent 17 years as a defender with Bremen, appearing in 262 Bundesliga games and scoring 13 goals.

• Hamburg general manager Dietmar Beiersdorfer played for both teams in his own career as a defender, featuring for Hamburg from 1986 to 1992 and then for Bremen between 1992 and 1996. He has been in his current role at Hamburg since 2002.

• Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost played for Bremen between 1993 and 2002, making 147 Bundesliga appearances. He joined his current employers in January 2007.

• Bremen players Mertesacker, Wiese, Clemens Fritz, Torsten Frings and Mesut Özil play with Hamburg's Piotr Trochowski and Marcell Jansen for Germany.

• Hamburg striker Olić and Bremen midfielder Jurica Vranješ were part of Croatia's 2006 FIFA World Cup squad.

• Hamburg striker Guerrero and Bremen forward Claudio Pizarro are both Peruvian internationals and took part in the 2007 Copa América.

• Bremen's Özil, Sebastian Boenisch and Aaron Hunt could well feature for Germany at the upcoming 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship alongside Hamburg's Dennis Aogo and Jerome Boateng. All appeared in the qualifiers.

• Frings and Pizarro of Bremen were both team-mates of Hamburg's Guerrero and Trochowski at Bayern in 2004/05.

• Frings and Hamburg defender Guy Demel were colleagues at BV Borussia Dortmund between 2002 and 2004.

Route to semi-finals

• Bundesliga runners-up last season, Bremen earned their Round of 16 place by finishing third in UEFA Champions League Group B. They then overcame Milan on away goals in the Round of 32, drawing 1-1 at home and 2-2 at San Siro. They won 1-0 at home and drew 2-2 away against AS Saint-Etienne to make it to the quarter-finals, where they met Udinese Calcio. After winning the home leg 3-1, Schaaf's men drew 3-3 in Italy.

• Hamburg, fourth in the Bundesliga in 2007/08, finished first in UEFA Cup Group F and beat NEC Nijmegen comfortably in the Round of 32, winning 3-0 in the Netherlands and 1-0 at home. They then ousted Galatasaray AŞ to reach the quarter-finals, drawing 1-1 at home and winning 3-2 in Istanbul. In the last eight, they saw off Manchester City FC thanks to a 3-1 home success and a 2-1 away defeat.

• The second leg will be held at the Arena Hamburg on 7 May. The winners of this tie will be the nominal away side in the final at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul on 20 May, where they will face either FC Shakhtar Donetsk or FC Dynamo Kyiv.

Form book

Bremen: Although this is Bremen's fourth UEFA Cup semi-final, they are still waiting to reach the final. They are unbeaten at home in Europe since losing 3-0 to Panathinaikos FC in the UEFA Champions League group stage on 4 November 2008, a run of four games.

Last five European games: DWDWD
Last five European home games: LWDWW
Top scorer (Europe): Pizarro (6, including 2 in the UEFA Champions League group stage)
Diego (6, including 1 in the UEFA Champions League group stage)

Last five domestic games: LWDLW
Last five domestic home games: DDWWW
Top scorer (Bundesliga): Pizarro (16)

Hamburg: HSV are appearing in the UEFA Cup semi-finals for a third time, their only previous success at this stage coming in 1981/82. They had won all five UEFA Cup away games this term until their 2-1 defeat at Manchester City – only their second setback in their last 13 European away fixtures.

Last five European games: WDWWL
Last five European away games: WWWWL
Top scorer (Europe): Olić (7)

Last five domestic games: WWLWL
Last five domestic away games: WLWLL
Top scorer (Bundesliga): Mladen Petrić (12)

Disciplinary information

Bremen: Frings, Fritz, Özil, Diego, Hugo Almeida, Daniel Jensen and Markus Rosenberg are within a booking of a one-match ban.
Hamburg: Guerrero, Rost and Jonathan Pitroipa are within a caution of suspension.

Who are...

Bremen

Honours
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1991/92
• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1998
• Domestic honours: 4 German titles, 5 German Cups.

Trivia
• Bremen have spent only one season outside the Bundesliga since it began in 1963/64. That solitary second-tier campaign came in 1980/81, with the team winning promotion straight back into the top flight.

• The club was founded in February 1899 as FV Werder, with 'werder' being an obscure German word for a river island, like the Peterswerder upon which the Weserstadion stands. They became Werder Bremen in January 1920 and two years later were the first German team to hire a professional coach.

• Bremen are famous for their European miracles on home soil, with at least four games being remembered for a 'Wunder von der Weser':-
- in the 1987/88 UEFA Cup they won 6-2 at home against FC Spartak Moskva after extra time, having lost the first leg 4-1.
- in the 1988/89 European Champion Clubs' Cup they lost 3-0 at BFC Dynamo Berlin but prevailed with a 5-0 home success.
- In the 1993/94 campaign they came from 3-0 down in a UEFA Champions League group match against RSC Anderlecht to win 5-3.
- In the 1999/00 UEFA Cup third round they lost 3-0 at Olympique Lyonnais, but won 4-0 in the home leg.

Hamburg

Honours
• European Champion Clubs' Cup: 1982/83
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1976/77
• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2005, 2007
• Domestic honours: 6 German titles, 3 German Cups

Trivia
• Hamburg have played in the highest tier of German football since their foundation in 1919, the only team to have done so. They are also the only club to have been involved in every Bundesliga season to date.

• Iconic Hamburg striker Uwe Seeler was Germany's first Player of the Year in 1960. He scored 404 goals in 476 league games for the club between 1953 and 1972.

• From 16 January 1982 to 29 January 1983, Hamburg went unbeaten for 36 league games – a Bundesliga record which has yet to be broken.