Last Sunday, Bundesliga giant Hamburg slumped to its eighth-straight defeat on the road in the German first division, a result that left the storied club in 16th-place, five points adrift ofcertain-safety with just two games left to play this season. Hamburg, which has never been relegated before, is hoping at the very least to hold onto 16th-place, which in Germany would put the club ina two-game playoff against the third-place team from Bundesliga 2 with the winner earning the right to play in the first division next season.
The problem is, Hamburg’s next opponentwill be current German champion Bayern Munich. Speaking after the club’s 3-1 humbling at FC Augsberg on Sunday, coach Mirko Slomka, Hamburg’s third coach this season,admitted that pushing for 15th-place and guaranteed safety was likely impossible, with two games to play. “We’re battling for 16th place now, nothing more,” he said.
Meanwhile,
Should Hamburg maintain its position — which is a big if considering that the club is just one point above Nuremberg and two points above last-placeEintracht Braunschweig — its opponent in the promotional playoff would be either SpVgg Greuther Furth or Kaiserslautern, currently battling it out for third-place in Bundesliga 2.