The Cottagers needed 27 hours to get to Hamburg by coach and even had to train by the side of the autobahn when heavy traffic held them up further.

But they still came away in a strong position, with a big slice of the credit going to Schwarzer for several outstanding saves.

"The trip was well documented, and we were a bit tired in the legs, but in the end it's a good performance," Schwarzer told ESPN.

"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."

Asked if the players had managed to stretch their legs on the way over, Schwarzer joked: "We had three hours by the side of the motorway halfway through.

"It was tough, but you can do it if you get your mind right. In the last 15-20 minutes you get your head around the fact you are tired and you can still hold your shape.

"There were a few chances for us and we could have come away with a goal."

Fulham captain Danny Murphy was happy with the way his side contained Hamburg.

"They're a good side with great attacking players and we knew they'd come at us," he said.

"We talked about keeping our shape and other than two saves in the last 15-20 minutes we had a reasonably comfortable night. With a bit more quality on the break we might have had a chance ourselves.

"I knew we would have to be organised, they have good attacking players, we've seen that on the videos, and we knew if we kept our shape we would have a few chances on the counter attack.

"Mark made a few good saves but when you come away from home at this stage of the competition you know you're going to be under pressure."

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Fulham boss Roy Hodgson praised his players for the way they had handled things.

"I think we have got to be very happy with the result when it has been such an effort to get here," he said.

"It's not normal to travel virtually two days but we were determined not to use it as an excuse. I do think now we can take some credit.

"You can't put these things out of your mind. You can't prepare well when you have to spend two days on a bus, but that didn't show in the game."

Hodgson admitted the tie is delicately poised, but believes things now favour Fulham.

"It will be very different at Craven Cottage with the atmosphere and the pitch being so different to here," he added.

"This is a magnificent stadium, a magnificent arena with a beautiful playing surface, a big playing surface, and it will be very different on our much tighter pitch."

There was one worry for Fulham with Bobby Zamora coming off with a recurrence of his Achilles injury.

"He does have an Achilles problem and we're trying to manage it as well as possible," Hodgson added. "We were a bit concerned about it and he was complaining about it before the game.

"It was so close to the end of the game I've not had a chance to talk to the medical staff yet, but it will be a problem for the weekend, that's for certain, because of the travelling.

"I've not ruled him out yet but if you ask me now to have a bet I would bet on him not playing."