Soccer-Hamburg on brink of historic relegation after Stuttgart loss

BERLIN, May 16 (Reuters) - Former European champions Hamburg SV are a game away from a first relegation from the Bundesliga after slumping to 2-1 defeat at struggling VfB Stuttgart on Saturday. Instead of making sure of at least a playoff spot ahead of next week's final match against Schalke 04, Hamburg now face the prospect of relegation, sitting in 17th place on 32 points, with Stuttgart in the playoff spot a point ahead. The northerners are the only club to have played in the Bundesliga every season since it was created in 1963. "It is a huge disappointment that we let go of that 1-0 lead," coach Bruno Labbadia told reporters. Labbadia took over last month and steered Hamburg to two wins and a draw in four games as they briefly moved out of the danger zone. "Some things did not work the way we imagined it. We took bad decisions which Stuttgart used well," he said. Champions of Europe in 1983, the year of their last Bundesliga title, Hamburg had a warning last season when they needed to get through a relegation playoff to stay up. They looked to be heading away from trouble when Gojko Kacar gave them a 12th-minute lead with his third goal in three games but Stuttgart then seized the initiative. The hosts, far more aggressive throughout, struck twice in eight minutes through Martin Harnik and Christian Gentner to turn the game around and give themselves a lifeline. "We gave the game away ourselves. Now we have to beat Schalke and also see what will happen in the other games," Labbadia said of next week's finale. Stuttgart travel to last-placed Paderborn, on 31, while Hanover 96 take on Freiburg, with both sides on 34 points in 15th and 14th place respectively. "This is not a good starting position but we will not give up," Labbadia said. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Ed Osmond)