Was it a shot? Was it a cross? Whatever it was, Fulham fans wonâÂÂt care; Clint DempseyâÂÂs exquisite chipped goal against Juventus has put them into the last eight of the Europa League â where they will play German champions VfL Wolfsburg
Click to see Dempsey's dink
Even better news for Fulham fans is that, should they beat Wolfsburg, theyâÂÂll play the winners of the other remaining German team left in the competition, Hamburger SV, or their opponents Standard Liege in the semi-final. Fulham will definitely feel theyâÂÂre in with a good chance of making the final, and whoâÂÂd blame them?
The draw in full:
Fulham v Wolfsburg
Hamburg v Standard Liege
--------------------------------
Valencia v Atlético Madrid
Benfica v Liverpool
The Fundesliga is plumping for a Fulham vs Atlético Madrid final. Whaddaya reckon?
Fulham celebrate a famous victory
Roy Hodgson's men will face a familiar foe on April Fool's Day. Former Premier League striker Obafemi Martins is plying his trade at the Volkswagen Arena nowadays.
The Nigerian made a big mark in Wolfsburg's Europa League win over Rubin Kazan. After replacing the injured Grafite â one half of last seasonâÂÂs mega-prolific strike force with Bosnian Edin Dzeko â he scored one and set up the winner just a minute before the end of extra time. Fulham beware!
That said, Wolfsburg arenâÂÂt actually very good nowadays, as reflected in their current Bundesliga position of eighth â nearly 20 points behind leaders Bayern München.
Speaking of which, on to matchday 27 in the Bundesligaâ¦
Nürnberg have the chance to put another three points between themselves and the relegation-threatened trio of Hannover, Freiburg and Hertha Berlin, while up at the top there is an absolutely massive local derby between Dortmund and Leverkusen. If the home team are victorious, the gap between themselves and the Werkself would be just five points â which would re-open the race for the third and final Champions League space.
Look out this weekend for the Hamburg and Mainz games. With Hamburg playing title-contenders Schalke, Mainz will really fancy their chances of a win at Freiburg inching ever closer to a Europa League spot. The two teams meet on April 17 in a match that could decide the seasonâÂÂs fate for them both.
Stuttgart have the chance to put another nail into HannoverâÂÂs coffin, while Hertha Berlin will be hoping that WolfsburgâÂÂs European heroics last night will lead to tired legs when they meet on Sunday afternoon.
Bayern really ought to beat Frankfurt, and FC Köln have to avoid defeat to fellow Nordrhein WestfalenerâÂÂs Borussia Monchengladbach if they want to stay away from the relegation places.
This weekend's fixtures, along with The Fundesliga's predictions:
Friday
FC Köln 2-2 Borussia MâÂÂgladbachâ¨
Saturday
â¨Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen
â¨Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 FC Bayern München â¨
FC Nürnberg 1-0 1899 Hoffenheimâ¨
SC Freiburg 1-2 FSV Mainzâ¨
VfB Stuttgart 2-1 Hannover 96â¨
Werder Bremen 2-0 VfL Bochumâ¨
Sunday
â¨Hamburger SV 1-1 Schalke 04â¨
VfL Wolfsburg 3-1 Hertha Berlin
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