RAFAEL VAN DER VAART

Hamburg midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has said that Barcelona will prove to be a much stronger team than Bayern Munich in the semifinals of the Champions league. The two teams will be meeting in the last four stage of the competition looking to book their place in the final at Wembley on May 25, according to isport media, the football seo specialists.

Bayern will be looking to make it into the third Champions league final in just four seasons, while Barcelona will be aiming for a third victory in the competition in just five seasons. Bayern Munich have been receiving all the plaudits this season due to their impressive squad strength.

They have been able to dispose favourite teams like Juventus with the relative comfort. Bayern Munich manager Heynckes is capable of putting at least two extremely strong first teams. Such is the depth of the squad, while things are extremely different at Barcelona. The Catalan club have been extremely reliant on Argentine star Lionel Messi, who has been suffering from a hamstring injury in recent weeks. Despite this, van der Vaart reckons that they have enough quality to progress to the final of the competition.

The second leg will be at the Camp Nou, which is again going to be an advantage for Barcelona according to van der Vaart.

“Bayern do not have a chance against Barcelona. When both sides meet, Bayern will only have 30 per cent possession or so. Barca always have the ball. Their system is unbelievable. There is one player who makes the difference between Bayern and Barcelona and that’s Messi. The Bundesliga has reached new heights this season and is the most interesting league in my opinion. I do not think Bayern have a chance against Barca, though,” said van der Vaart. Bayern come into the match on the back of the 9-2 win over Hamburg recently.

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The former Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has said that Hamburg should maintain their impressive run of form in recent months if they are to clinch a European place at the end of the season. Hamburg brought in the Dutch midfielder van der Vaart in the hope of rekindling their hopes of the fans.

Even though the experiment did not work initially, Hamburg have been one of the in form teams in German football over the last few months. This has allowed them to move into the sixth position in the table – just a few points below the Champions League spots. Read the rest of this entry »

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The former Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has said that he expects to contribute more to the Hamburg team when he returns after the winter break. The club managed to secure the services of the 29-year-old by breaking the bank, and so far he has proven to be a great acquisition for the club. He has been able to help them get into the top half of the table. He has made 12 appearances for the team before getting injured prior to the winter break. He has so far scored one goal for the club and he expects a much better performance in the second half of the season.

Van der Vaart has said that his normal goal tally is around 10 goals a season. So far, he has not been happy with the way he has finished the chances. Aside from the solitary goal, he has also helped the team by providing five assists in all competitions. Van der Vaart has said that he will be looking to help his team in other areas of the pitch if he is not able to score on a consistent basis. Many expected success to come almost instantly after the arrival of the 29-year-old, but he has called for patience from the fans.

“I can improve my finishing. Normally I have to score 10 times per season. So far, I only scored one. Of course, if this doesn’t work out I have to try to help [the team] in other areas. Even though I succeeded with that, I still expect more of myself. I really felt that I could help the team to win again. But I think I can even help more. Yes, we do have potential and played some good matches during the first half of the season, but bad ones as well,” said van der Vaart.

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The Hamburg manager Thorsten Fink has said that the players should get over the disappointment of having to deal with the loss of their star player Rafael van der Vaart, who has been ruled out with a long-term injury. The player is not expected to be back until the next few months, which will be a major blow for the team, who rely a lot upon the former Tottenham and Real Madrid midfielder. The club went to extraordinary lengths to sign the midfielder from Tottenham in the summer in the hope that he would finally revive the club’s fortunes.

Even though Hamburg have not been able to challenge for the league title this season, they have been doing well considering their performances in the recent seasons. They are currently in the seventh position having taken 24 points from the opening 16 matches, while the possibility of getting into the top three positions still remains real. Rink has said that he is extremely confident that the team can end the year on a high when they take on Bayern Leverkusen during the weekend. This will be an extremely tough match because Bayern Leverkusen are currently second in the table, although they are 11 points behind the leaders Bayern Munich.

“It is important that the players see that sometimes we will have to be without Rafael, though we need him back desperately. We have a chance of qualifying for Europe. If other teams falter, we are there. If we are consistent, we could play internationally. We have 24 points. We go with confidence to Leverkusen, where we can play with no pressure. Why should not we score? The whole club has developed. Everything is much more professional,” said Fink. The club has been on a good run of form in recent weeks after losing just one of the last five matches.

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