No goals

Despite a 17-hour journey by sea and land to get to the match, English Premier League team Fulham managed to shut out home side Hamburg on Thursday night in their first-leg Europa League semi-final match.

Fulham's 1,000-kilometer road trip was made necessary because of massive flight disruptions across Europe.

Hamburg was the far more aggressive side, providing nearly all the game's few moments of offensive excitement. But Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer was up to the task throughout. In one second half sequence, he parried three shots in quick succession by Jonathan Pitroipa, Piotr Trochowski and David Jarolim.

"We've done fantastically well to limit them to so few chances, and it's a really admirable performance that gives us hope for the return leg," Schwarzer said after the match.

Atletico takes early lead

Thursday night's other Europa League semi-final saw a 1-0 victory for Atletico Madrid over Liverpool.

Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan's strike in the ninth minute proved to be the game's only goal, making it past both goalkeeper Pepe Reina and defender Jamie Carragher.

"We are happy, but we know that we have to play another 90 minutes, and it's going to be difficult," said Forlan in a television interview after the game. "It's going to be hard. They play well at Anfield and they are a very strong side."

The match began with a minute of silence to honor Spain's former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch, who died of heart failure at 89 on Wednesday.

Return legs for the two matches will be played next week, and the winners will face off in the final in Hamburg on May 12.

acb/AP/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Matt Hermann