Having already knocked out UEFA Cup champion Shakhtar Donetsk, overturned a 4-1 deficit against powerhouse Juventus and ousted Bundesliga winner Wolfsburg, Europa League upstart Fulham is out to stop Hamburg reaching a final which will be played in the German club's own stadium.
While Liverpool goes to Atletico Madrid in the other semifinal, Fulham's journey through European football's second tier competition has been a memorable one for a club which has never won a major trophy.
"For me it is the big one, I have not been involved in a game like this before," said Fulham attacking midfielder Zoltan Gera. "It's the biggest that I have ever been part of, and hopefully I will be involved. But it's not just an important one for me, but for everyone at the club.
"It's another step on what has been a fantastic journey."
Hamburg, Liverpool and Atletico have all won European titles in different competitions. But Fulham has never even captured a domestic crown and its best in Europe was winning the lightly regarded InterToto cup, a now defunct qualifying stage of the former UEFA Cup.
Only 10th in the Premier League, Fulham is out to take a big step towards eliminating Hamburg at the same Hamburg Arena where the final will be played on May 12.
"Hamburg are a good side, we know that, but so were Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus and Wolfsburg," Gera said. "We know that on our day we are more than a match for any side. So we'll go there with the belief that we can do well. We have to."
They didn't gather any belief from being held to 0-0 at home by relegation-threatened Wolves last weekend.
Hamburg fared even worse, losing 1-0 at home to Mainz to slip to seventh place in the Bundesliga, five points behind the last spot needed to secure European play next season.
Hamburg striker Ruud van Nistelrooy said the poor result against Mainz was extra motivation for Thursday while forward Paolo Guerrero can face Fulham even though his Bundesliga season is over after he was given a five-match ban for throwing a drink bottle at a fan.
Sidelined for the rest of the season after knee surgery, Liverpool striker Fernando Torres will miss the two games against former club Atletico Madrid.
He also missed Liverpool's two Champions League matches against the Spanish team last season and midfielder Yossi Benayoun said his absence again would spur his team on to reach the final.
"Fernando is the best striker in the world and, with him, it is much easier," said Benayoun, who scored in Liverpool's 3-0 victory over West Ham on Monday. "But unfortunately he is injured and cannot play. We need to give more to try to play for him because he won us a lot of games and played a big part in us getting to the semifinal.
"We need to try to win the game for him and all the club."
While Liverpool will miss Torres, Atletico won't have the suspended Sergio Aguero.
"Both teams lose a lot, but I think (Aguero's) absence is more notable because he is key to Atletico," midfielder Jose Antonio Reyes said. "His absence will be noted, let's just hope not too much."
Like Fulham, Hamburg and Liverpool, Atletico has played well in Europe compared with its Spanish league form, where it has lost three straight games including Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Villarreal which left the team halfway down the standings.
Because ash blowing across northern Europe from an Iceland volcano have grounded aircraft, the two English teams are making their way to the venues largely overland by train or bus, which is likely to be tiring for the players.
Fulham headed for Hamburg by bus, a journey of 900 kilometers, while Liverpool took three trains plus a flight from Bordeaux to Madrid, stopping over Tuesday night in Paris.
"I'm sorry that they have to travel so many kilometers to get to Madrid, but I'm not sure that that will be noted on the field," Atletico midfielder Jose Manuel Jurado said.
"On top of the trip, they'll also be tired after playing on Monday. But in a semifinal like this you give it your all and I don't think you feel tired."
