The Bundesliga play-offs are always an interesting encounter between the third worse team in the Bundesliga and the third best in the 2.Bundesliga. This season we'll be witnessing Hamburg and Greuther Fürth scrapping it out for the last 2014/15 Bundesliga spot.

This isn't a position Hamburg normally find themselves in and after a disastrous season they deservedly finished third from bottom. Der Dinosaurier's have never been relegated from the Bundesliga and they'll need to produce two performances close to their best in order to keep that impressive record. Unlike their opponents Greuther Fürth have experienced relegation from the Bundesliga, they finished bottom last season after picking up just 21 points. The aim for Fürth this season was to try and regain their Bundesliga status and despite not achieving automatic promotion they can be proud of what they've achieved.

Hamburg go into this game in dreadful form, in their last five games they've lost every single one. Hamburg finished the Bundesliga season with the worst defensive record in the league, shipping in seventy-five goals. Hamburg were able to hang onto the relegation play-off spot thanks to the poor form also shown by Nürnberg and Braunschweig. There hasn't been many bright moments for Hamburg this season but one of them has been the breakthrough of Hakan Çalhanoğlu. The young Turk has had an outstanding first season with Hamburg, finishing the season as the club's second top scorer with eleven goals to his name, the youngster has also created four goals.

There hasn't been anyone that has outperformed the Turk and he'll have to be at his best against Fürth if Hamburg are to have a chance of winning. It can't all be down to Çalhanoğlu, Hamburg will also need on loan striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga and Rafael van der Vaart to step up to the plate and help drive Hamburg to victory. Lasogga has just returned from injury and his goal against Mainz saw him finish the season as the club's top scorer having netted thirteen times, van der Vaart also had a decent return this season, managing seven goals and six assists. Scoring hasn't been the problem for Hamburg as I said earlier they have the worst defence in the league. Westermann and Co will need to perform far better than they have been against a strong Fürth attack.

Greuther Fürth's last five games going into this one has been a lot better than the last five for Hamburg, Fürth have won three, lost one and drawn one. Fürth have impressed in both attack and defence this season, their defence were the fifth best in the 2.Bundesliga and they also managed to take the crown of best attack after scoring sixty-four times, the only team that came close to scoring that much were Paderborn, they scored sixty-three times. One of the highlights this season for Fürth has been the goalscoring form of Ilir Azemi. The 22-year-old striker has enjoyed his best season in the Fürth first team, scoring fourteen goals in his twenty-eight appearances, last season he only managed one goal in twenty-one Bundesliga appearances. Like Azemi, Trinks, Stieber and Gießelmann have all enjoyed great seasons, the progress of these players has been great to see this season.

Slomka talking to Bundesliga.com about his sides meeting with Fürth: “We are the Bundesliga side and the favourites. Fürth have played very well this season, but this will be a huge challenge for them.”

Also speaking to Bundesliga.com Kramer seemed comfortable with the underdog tag: "We don’t need to hide and we’re comfortable with being the underdogs, we know who we’re playing against but we know that we can cause them problems in the game. We can look back on a great season, but we'll be putting that satisfaction to one side when it comes to the next two matches.”

This will be an interesting tie between two sides, both have enjoyed lots of success in the Bundesliga over the years. Hamburg have it in their own hands, the Bundesliga side are favourites and with the first leg being at the Imtech Arena the pressure is certainly on the home side. Greuther Fürth will certainly fancy their chances against Hamburg's defence and they should prove to be a tough test for Hamburg. The two sides have already met each other this season, Hamburg were able to win 1-0 in a tight second round tie to knock Fürth out of the DFB Pokal.

Prediction: Hamburg 1-1 Greuther Fürth.

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