Mladen Petrić was crushed after Hamburger SV missed out on playing in the inaugural UEFA Europa League final at their own stadium, losing 2-1 at Fulham FC despite leading through the Croatia striker's thunderous free-kick. "It is hard to say why things went this way," said the 29-year-old. "After the equaliser, we pulled back too deep. In the second half we stopped pushing forward, that was our problem. This is the biggest disappointment of my career, especially after being 1-0 up." Club chairman Bernd Hoffmann added: "Two years of dreaming of reaching the final in our own stadium are over; that's very hard to take."