Football
PA Sport 9y

Survival out of Hamburg's hands after defeat to Stuttgart

Hamburg are on the brink of a first ever relegation from the Bundesliga after a 2-1 defeat at Stuttgart left them no longer in control of their own destiny at the bottom of the table.

After 52 years of uninterrupted permanence in the top flight of German football, the northern Germany club now need to rely on others if they are to avoid the drop for the very first time.

"Of course we are hugely disappointed, particularly when you see the other results today," coach Bruno Labbadia said. "Now we've got to ensure we beat Schalke and then it's up to the others."

Even with a win against the Royal Blues next weekend, Hamburg will be relegated if Stuttgart get the better of Paderborn and Hannover draw their game with Freiburg.

A win in Stuttgart on Saturday would have seen them mathematically safe, at least from direct relegation.

"We had Stuttgart right where we wanted them," said Labbadia, whose side took the lead in the 12th minute through Gojko Kacar before Christian Gentner and Martin Harnik earned Stuttgart victory.

"Then we didn't play for 20 to 25 minutes the way we had to play. "We struggled to make the right decisions. We seemed to be putting them under pressure, but we let them hit us on the break. We just couldn't break through."

Hamburg were close to relegation last season when they needed a playoff win over Greuther Furth to stay up.

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