Hamburg failed to take an advantage against Fulham in front of home crowd at HSH Nordbank Arena Thursday in a scoreless draw of Europa League semi-final's first leg.
Hamburg started self-confident and pressed Fulham into defense, while Fulham showed no interest to play an offensively-oriented soccer and defended deep in their own half.
Hamburg pressed for the opener but remained absolutely harmless. In the 70th minute, Hamburg produced goal scoring opportunities but Fulham's goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer staged a faultless performance and denied the ball with superb saves.
Hamburg pushed frantically to set Fulham under pressure, but was unable to convert their opportunities into tangible reward.
The second leg will take place next week at Craven Cottage in London.