Petric and Guerrero reunited at Hamburg
Reuters - Friday 27 April 2012, 12:56
Brief news ahead of this
weekend's Bundesliga matches:
Hamburg SV's attacking partnership between Paolo Guerrero
and Mladen Petric will be revived against Mainz on Saturday for
the last time in front of a home crowd, coach Thorsten Fink
said.
Peruvian striker Guerrero is back after an eight-match ban
for a violent tackle and Petric, in his final home game for the
Bundesliga club, is leaving at the end of the season.
Croatian Petric joined Hamburg, battling to avoid
relegation, in 2008.
"Mladen was protected for a bit and is now top fit," said
Fink. "Guerrero has also trained very intensively during his
absence and is in very good condition."
Hamburg, the only top team never to have played in the
second division since the creation of the Bundesliga in 1963,
will secure their top-flight status for another season with a
win on Saturday.
Werder Bremen will not extend the contract of former
Germany international Tim Borowski but said they were planning
to continue working with him in some other capacity.
Borowski, who returned to Bremen in 2009 after a one-season
stint at Bayern Munich, has not ruled out playing on despite
missing the entire season with an ankle injury.
"It is just too much fun but I first have to see how my
ankle will react," said Borowski, who will be 32 in May.
Bremen face VfL Wolfsburg away on Saturday.
Austrian defender Andreas Ibertsberger will leave
Hoffenheim at the end of the season after four-and-a-half years,
the club said.
The 29-year-old, who joined Hoffenheim in January 2008 and
won promotion to the top flight with the club, has played only
one game this season due to a back injury.
Ninth-placed Hoffenheim host Nuremberg, who are 11th, on
Saturday.
Bayer Leverkusen defender Michal Kadlec has been cleared
to play with a face mask after being attacked last week outside
a night club by two alleged Cologne fans who broke his nose.
Czech international Kadlec, who completed the full training
session on Thursday, sporting the carbon mask, underwent surgery
earlier this week to fix his broken nose.
Leverkusen, who are in sixth place and have all but secured
their spot in the Europa League next season, take on fellow
Europa League hopefuls Hannover 96 on Saturday.