Fulham boss Roy Hodgson goes into their Europa League semifinal second-leg with Hamburg facing a rookie coach.

With the tie set at 0-0, Bruno Labbadia was sacked as manager of the German club last night with their failure to break down Fulham in the goalless first leg of their last four clash cited as a reason.

Labbadia was in charge for less than 10 months and has been replaced by Ricardo Moniz, who worked under Martin Jol at Tottenham and helped Aaron Lennon develop into an England winger.

The fitness pro, 45, has never managed before and his first task will be to lead Hamburg to a win at Craven Cottage on Thursday, earning them a place in the final, which will be at their home stadium.

"Recent performances against Mainz, Fulham and Hoffenheim have given us the impression we had to change something," said Hamburg chairman Bernd Hoffmann.

"We did it to be able to play a successful game in London and reach the final of the Europa League."