Standard hark back to past glories

Domenico D'Onofrio is taking courage from R. Standard de Liège's previous UEFA Europa League scalps as he looks ahead to the decider against Hamburger SV.

The Italian-born coach is delighted the Belgian side have got this far, but while they trail final hosts Hamburg 2-1 following the away leg of their quarter-final tie, Standard are far from out of the running having unexpectedly eliminated FC Salzburg and Panathinaikos FC already in the knockout phase. "Without doubt Hamburg are the favourites, but so were Panathinaikos and Salzburg," said D'Onofrio. "We will do our best to take it to the next level."

While Standard's domestic season has been a relative failure, D'Onofrio insists their European achievements should not be dismissed. "No one expected us to reach this stage but we are here on merit," he said. "We certainly have a chance to complete our mission, but it will be very tough. And even if things don't go the way we hope, we must not besmirch what we achieved in getting this far."

Standard lost 1-0 to KRC Genk on Sunday, but with the likes of Milan Jovanović, Dieudonné Mbokani, Axel Witsel and Igor De Camargo not starting, that was no great surprise. All four should be fit to take on Hamburg, though Felipe (ankle) and captain Steven Defour (buttocks) will not feature.

Bastian Reinhardt (torn muscle), Romeo Castelen (flu), Eljero Elia (ankle) and Marcell Jansen (ankle) are absent for Hamburg, but while Joris Mathijsen (thigh), Mladen Petric (hamstring), Zé Roberto (back) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (hamstring) are carrying injuries, all are expected to play. Coach Bruno Labbadia said: "We know we have some players suffering from minor knocks; it is important they play, but we have to see how they respond in training. We took precautions and came with 19 players because of that."