Borussia Monchengladbach to end Hamburg's Bundesliga life
Fifty-four years of gone by and Hamburg have been in the German Bundesliga for that entire timespan. No team in Germany has been in the top-flight of football for that same duration: Not Bayern Munich, not Eintracht Frankfurt and not Schalke, just Hamburg.
However, that time is about to end and Saturday's match against Borussia Monchengladbach will be Hamburg's last for at least a season.
As Bundesliga pundits have stated, Hamburg are living on borrowed time. The club has finished 10th or lower in five of the last six seasons. In 2013-14 and 2014-15, the club narrowly avoided dropping out of the Bundesliga by winning the relegation playoffs. After two years of avoiding 16th place, Hamburg now look likely to be automatically relegated, ending a four decade-plus existence in the top-flight.
There is a glimmer of hope for Hamburg, but it is a just a small ray of light peaking in between cracks. A win and a Wolfsburg loss to already relegated Koln would ensure the team play in the relegation playoffs once more. It is a domino effect that the club and its supporters are praying to have occur. However, Borussia are fighting for their own possible qualification to the Europa League and will be out to get all three points.
Borussia are coming off of a 3-1 win over Freiburg and are undefeated in their last three games. The Foals did have a casualty in that match as captain Lars Stindl suffered a serious ankle injury. He will miss the match and the World Cup due to the aliment. He won't be the only player missing from Dieter Hecking's team. Fabian Johnson and Julio Villalba will also be out of action.
Despite completely capitulating against Frankfurt last weekend in a 3-0 loss, Hamburg do have some players in-form. Lewis Holtby has been playing well and has scored four goals in six matches. He is expected to be paired with veteran attacking midfielder Aaron Hunt for the crunch fixture. The pair have plenty of experience to get Hamburg all three points.
Borussia won the previous fixture between the two sides, 3-1. However, it was the only time in the last six Bundesliga meetings between the clubs that Hamburg dropped all three points to their league rivals.
While Hamburg have everything to play for, just like they did a week ago, Borussia will have no trouble taking all three points once more. Hamburg's need for a win will prevent the team from playing freely. It will allow Borussia to pick up the victory and doom Hamburg to the Bundesliga 2 for the first time ever.
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