Hamburg stare down Bayern juggernaut

Tuesday's 5-1 German Cup mauling of VfB Stuttgart sent out an ominous warning to FC Bayern München's Bundesliga rivals, but as Hamburger SV meet the champions tonight, coach Martin Jol said: "We are not scared."

'More quality'
Bayern visit fourth-placed Hamburg with just two points separating the teams, but even though his team are level on points with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim at the top of the table, defender Philipp Lahm is convinced none of his side's German rivals can handle Bayern on their day. "Domestically, the only thing that can stop us is complacency," he said. "We have more quality than anyone else in the league, and we'll show it in the second half of the season."

Further changes
Hamburg, however, are not about to surrender, especially as a win would see them go top for at least a night. "A 5-1 win in Stuttgart is an impressive result, but I know we can beat Bayern in our own stadium," said sporting director Dietmar Biersdorfer. In order to do so, the UEFA Cup contenders must deal with another major change. Jol's side recovered from the sales of Rafael van der Vaart to Real Madrid CF and Vincent Kompany to Manchester City FC in August, but must now do without Nigel de Jong.

Irresistible offer
The Dutch midfielder joined Kompany at City for a reported club record €19.5m fee, with Beiersdorfer saying: "The sadness over losing such a good player overshadows the happiness of receiving so much money. He was an important part of our team. You don't let someone like him leave easily, but we could not pass on an offer like this." For the moment, Hamburg have been cautious in spending any of their windfall, although Venezuelan Tomás Rincón seems to have been lined up as De Jong's replacement.

Olić absent
Hamburg are bracing themselves for further ructions, with striker Ivica Olić having agreed to move to Bayern at the end of the season, though the Croatian will miss this meeting with his future team-mates as he serves a two-match suspension prompted by a fight with Hoffenheim's Chinedu Obasi in a January friendly game. "Ivica is in top form at the moment," said Jol ruefully. "It is sad for him and for us that he will be absent on Friday, but I am confident the team will make up for that. Paolo Guerrero will be especially motivated against his former club."

Big kick-off
Hamburg's Marcell Jansen is another Bayern old boy and said: "I am very much looking forward to the game. It will be a great start start to the second half of the season. We know it will be a tough match." Jol agreed, but while he is concerned by Bayern's array of goalscoring options, he added: "With a healthy level of excitement and perfect preparation, we can beat Bayern. We are not scared."

Key fixtures
Elsewhere, BVB Borussia Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp is demanding an improvement against Bayer 04 Leverkusen following his side's midweek German Cup exit at the hands of Werder Bremen. Just three points seperate Dortmund in sixth and fifth-place Leverkusen and this game could go a long way to deciding the race for a UEFA Cup berth. "We have to throw everything into this match to win it," Klopp said, with a crowd of over 70,000 expected at the Westfalenstadion. Hoffenheim are also in action, playing FC Energie Cottbus of Saturday.