The UEFA Cup final in Istanbul on 20 May will be a Germany v Ukraine affair after Werder Bremen, Hamburger SV, FC Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Dynamo Kyiv set up two domestic last-four ties on 30 April and 7 May.

Dynamo meet Shakhtar
Only one of those four teams, Dynamo, did not win their quarter-final first leg a week ago but in the early kick-off they defeated visitors Paris Saint-Germain FC 3-0. Their opponents this time will be Shakhtar, who followed up a 2-0 home win against PSG’s Ligue 1 rivals Olympique de Marseille with a 2-1 victory in France. Dynamo, who knocked out FC Metalist Kharkiv in the Round of 16, are at home in the first leg against Shakhtar, with a first Ukrainian UEFA Cup finalist assured.

Bremen against Hamburg
Lining up against Shakhtar or Dynamo at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium will be a Bundesliga club. Bremen travelled to Udinese Calcio 3-1 up and although at half-time the tie was level, Werder came back to draw 3-3 and progress 6-4 overall. Hamburg were also defending a 3-1 lead at Manchester City FC and José Paolo Guerrero’s early goal proved crucial, as the English club came back to win 2-1 and fall just short. Martin Jol’s men will aim to follow the example of Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who knocked out Bremen in the 1987/88 semi-finals, the first of three times Werder have fallen at that stage. Bremen will be at home in the opening leg before travelling to HSV seven days later, but whatever happens there will be a new name on the UEFA Cup in the final season before the launch of the replacement UEFA Europa League.

On the night Manchester City FC supporters revived their tradition of bringing plastic bananas to the match, the English club’s UEFA Cup hopes were deflated by Hamburger SV in a dramatic quarter-final.

Winning streak
Leading 3-1 from last week’s first leg, the Bundesliga title contenders claimed the breakthrough goal through José Paolo Guerrero, then withstood the intense pressure which followed City’s strikes either side of half-time from Elano and Felipe Caicedo. The 4-3 aggregate victory, rewarded by an all-German semi-final against Werder Bremen, confirmed coach Martin Jol’s winning habit against the hosts – Jol had prevailed in all seven previous encounters with City.

Deadlock broken
Make no mistake: this was a serious test of HSV’s trophy-collecting credentials. The craze for inflatable bananas which City fans had introduced to English football in 1988 returned with a passion. It was accompanied by frenzied City attacking. Pablo Zabaleta played in Micah Richards early on but he lost his footing with only Hamburg keeper Frank Rost to beat. Yet Jol’s men remained composed. Ivica Olić shot across goal, an attempt heralding the opener from Guerrero. The No9 vindicated his inclusion ahead of Mladen Petrić by slotting low beyond keeper Shay Given after Olić had touched on Jonathan Pitroipa’s cross.

Equaliser
By the 15th minute, though, City had a lifeline. The referee awarded a penalty after Elano’s centre had caught Piotr Trochowski, and the Brazilian directed it coolly past Rost. Vincent Kompany’s sliding tackle on former Hamburg team-mate David Jarolím was a barometer of the blue-and-red hot atmosphere being generated on a chilly night.

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