Hamburger vs Augsburg preview - Labbadia ready for finals finish

Posted Friday, April 24, 2015 by PA

Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia says his side must think of each of their remaining five matches this season as a cup game as they look to preserve their proud record of never having been relegated from the Bundesliga.

The northern Germany side are currently rooted to the foot of the table with five games left to save their status, and each and every one of those games is going to be crucial, according to Labbadia.

"It may sound cliched, but the next game is always the most important one," he said at a press conference.

"We've got to think in cup mode. If you lose in the cup, then you're no longer there for the next round and that's how it is with us."

HSV may get another chance of staying up even if they fail to beat Augsburg on Saturday, but victory would certainly boost their chances of staying up and Labbadia wants to see the fans help them make it through to the next round of their battle for survival.

"Of course it would help if they got behind us for 90 minutes," said the former Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart coach. "But we've got to kick things off."

Their opponents Augsburg are not going to be feeling charitable since they also need three points to keep them on course for what was originally Hamburg's aim for the season - a place in Europe.

"It's all down to us," said their coach Markus Weinzierl. "We can defend our position.

"We're taking things game to game and then we'll pick up the bill on the final day of the season, and we hope to be as high in the table as possible when we get that."

He and his team are just enjoying the fact it is not they who have their "backs to the wall" as Hamburg do, and they are therefore not under the same pressure as their hosts.

"They have got to win, they have got to score goals and they have got to take the initiative," Weinzierl said.

"All we've got to do is avoid making mistakes, keep our focus and be ruthless."