Hamburg’s Mathijsen determined to beat Fulham

(GSM) – Hamburger SV defender Joris Mathijsen is determined to beat Fulham and reach the Europa League final after a hectic week. Ricardo Moniz took over from Bruno Labbadia, who was forced to leave the club after a dismal run in the Bundesliga.

Die Rothosen can’t be bothered too much by the sudden change of manager as they look to book a place in the Europa League final which is played at their own HSH Nordbank Arena.

“Last season we were also in the semi-finals, but this season we have the added motivation of the final being at our own stadium so we’re going to give it our absolute all,” said Mathijsen to UEFA’s official website.

“Monday was not good due to the change of coach, but yesterday we trained well and life goes on. How many times in your career do you play in a European semi-final? We will do everything we can to win.

“Fulham played very defensively last week but they travelled for a long time and that’s perhaps a reason.

“They’re at home this time, so they have to come out and do more, but it [defending] might still be their tactic because they have a great defence. The pitch is not that big and, of course, that’s an advantage for Fulham.