Last four covet final prize

The prospect of Hamburger SV reaching a 'home' final and Liverpool FC's chances of overcoming Club Atlético de Madrid without Fernando Torres provide the main talking points as the UEFA Europa League approaches an exciting climax.

Hamburger SV v Fulham FC (22 and 29 April)
Roy Hodgson's Fulham are all that is standing in the way of Hamburg and a UEFA Europa League final appearance in their home stadium on 12 May, yet the Bundesliga outfit will surely not be underestimating the team that has eliminated Juventus and German champions VfL Wolfsburg on their way to the last four.

The west London club reached their first major European semi-final courtesy of back-to-back victories over Wolfsburg, having lost their only previous encounter with a German club 2-1 on aggregate against Hertha BSC Berlin in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup third round.

Yet the Cottagers can count on the know-how of their manager Hodgson, who has pitted himself against German teams on seven occasions. The experienced Englishman even took Viking FK to the Hamburg Arena in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage but could not prevent a side featuring current Fulham defender Brede Hangeland from losing 2-0.

In terms of international experience, Bruno Labbadia's charges undoubtedly have the edge. The former European champions are competing in their ninth major continental semi-final and have already locked horns with English teams 12 times. They do not have only happy memories of those past meetings, however. HSV lost to Nottingham Forest FC in the 1979/80 European Champion Clubs' Cup final and have not won in England in five attempts.

If the English outfit boast the highest scorer left in the competition – six-goal forward Bobby Zamora – Hamburg striker Ruud van Nistelrooy will be relishing the opportunity to take on Fulham having scored ten times against them in nine games while at Manchester United FC.

Club Atlético de Madrid v Liverpool FC (22 and 29 April)
Striker Fernando Torres has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after undergoing knee surgery, thus missing out on another chance to return to the club where he made his name, having also missed the two 1-1 draws between Liverpool and Atlético in last season's UEFA Champions League group stage.

The Spanish international joined Atlético as a ten-year-old and was club captain by the age of 19, scoring 84 goals in 214 league games before leaving for Anfield in 2007.

The English club can draw plenty of encouragement from previous encounters with Spanish opponents. The five-time European champions prevailed in both of their UEFA Cup semi-final meetings with FC Barcelona in 1975/76 and 2000/01, going on to clinch the trophy in the latter edition by beating Deportivo Alavés.

Atlético, on the other hand, have not won in seven games against English sides since a 1-0 victory against Aston Villa FC in the 1997/98 UEFA Cup quarter-finals. Having come through a testing tie with compatriots Valencia CF in the last eight, though, confidence is high.