HAMBURG: Former European champions Hamburg SV played out a goalless draw at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday in their first game back in the Bundesliga after a seven-year absence.

The 1983 European Cup winners, once nicknamed the Bundesliga’s ‘dinosaurs’ for having been in the top division for the longest uninterrupted spell since the league’s creation in 1963, suffered a shock first-ever relegation in 2018.

The six-time German champions shot out of the blocks with two corners, two shots on goal and 74% possession early in the first half.

Gladbach, however, had the biggest chance with Franck Honorat’s close-range volley in the 28th, and the hosts were slightly more aggressive in the second half.

Hamburg thought they had snatched the win with an 89th-minute effort from Yussuf Poulsen but William Mikelbrencis’ header from a metre out to push the ball over the line was ruled offside.

In Sunday’s earlier game, Marius Buelter scored in the final minute to give Cologne a 1-0 win at 10-man Mainz 05.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2025