Fulham plans hampered

EUROPA LEAGUE SEMI-FINALS:Hamburg V Fulham, Venue:Nordbank Arena, Kick-off:Tonight, 8.05pm, On TV:Setanta Ireland

FULHAM’S MOST marvellous European adventure continues in northern Germany tonight. Hamburg and 180 minutes of football separate Roy Hodgson’s team from a potential date with Liverpool in next month’s Europa League final, which will also be played at the Nordbank Arena.

The 57th match of a season soon to enter a 10th month pits Fulham against a side that made the semi-final of this competition last year, before losing on away goals to Werder Bremen.

Shaktar Donesk (the holders), Juventus and Wolfsburg (the German champions) have all been eliminated by Fulham, so a club with Hamburg’s pedigree hold no fear though, as always, Hodgson respects any German opposition.

He says: “They’ve had success if we talk about Bayern Munich and Hamburg, even teams like Dynamo Dresden, way back. The success of German teams goes very far. If you’ve ever seen them play you’re aware of the strength of German football so, if you get drawn, you know it’s going to be a tough game. Here we’re talking about (two) teams who have reached the semi-finals of a tough competition because there are more games in the Europa League than even the Champions League.”

Also providing a trial is the 595-mile drive that took the team from west London to northern Germany. This started on Tuesday, and ended at 4pm local time yesterday. There was a three-hour delay due to a crash on the autobahn as the team coach rode the final leg from Munster to Hamburg. Hodgson said: “The plan was to arrive here at 1.30pm to have lunch and that would’ve given us all afternoon for the physio to work with the players. That all got lost on the way, which is a further disadvantage.”

This doubled yesterday’s journey time to six hours, taking the final time Fulham spent on the bus to 17. “I hope this won’t hamper us because the physios couldn’t work with them until 5pm when we got to the hotel,” Hodgson said.

While Fulham’s prospects over the two legs may depend on how they handle a reinvigorated Ruud van Nistelrooy, who signed from Real Madrid in January, the Dutch striker believes 19-goal Bobby Zamora is a potent threat. “Zamora holds the ball, he’s a team player, works hard and he’s an all-round striker,” the 33-year-old said.

Like Zamora, like Fulham, for Hodgson and his band of Euro travellers their season could be about to become even more memorable.

• Guardian Service