SV Werder Bremen

[Trim]

Seven months after the UEFA Cup semi-finals against Espanyol Barcelona, Werder Bremen find themselves back in the thick of it.

Real Madrid's 3-1 win over Lazio Rom gives Bremen a third place finish in the group phase and the squad may now look forward to competing in the next stage of the tournament.

"Not a consolation"

Hugo Almeida shot Werder into the semi-finals in last season's UEFA Cup. Immediately following the final whistle in Piraeus, however, the mood was understandably subdued. "The disappointment is still too great. I can't begin thinking about the UEFA Cup just yet", said Clemens Fritz.

"The UEFA Cup is not a consolation for me", admitted Diego. Tim Borowski was well able to understand. "If you have it in your heart to qualify for the round of sixteen in the Champions League, then the disappointment of not reaching that goal is greater than the joy of knowing you go on in the UEFA Cup. But I'm certain will make a good go of it.."

Chin up, looking ahead

By focussing on the UEFA Cup, Bremen are beginning to look ahead. "We will move forward on a positive note despite the disappointment. Our goal has to be to go further than we did last year", said managing director Klaus Allofs, letting it also be known that Werder seek to reach the finals in Manchester, which will be played on May 14, 2008.

"Of course, this competition doesn't have the atmosphere of the Champions League, but if you get through the next two rounds, then this tournament becomes lucrative and exciting. We saw that last year", added Allofs.

Werder's run last time around took them through Ajax Amsterdam, Celta Vigo and AZ Alkmaar before hitting a wall in the semi-finals against Espanyol Barcelona. "This time we want to finish what we started", said Jurica Vranjes.

[Trim]

Werder Bremen suffered the trauma of Champions League elimination on Tuesday, but trainer Thomas Schaaf is confident they can bounce back this weekend against Leverkusen.

Considering they have been ravaged by injuries and that Bayern spent mega-bucks in the summer, this has been a great opening half of the season for Werder Bremen.

But things have soured somewhat after two straight defeats, firstly away to Hannover 96 (4-3) and then at Olympiacos in the Champions League.

The 3-0 loss in Greece saw Thomas Schaaf's side eliminated from Europe's top competition, finishing third in Group C.

Although the coach is disappointed, he has backed his team to be fully focused on Saturday's game with Bayer Leverkusen.

The Bremer currently lie 2nd in the Bundesliga table, two points behind leaders Bayern. Depending on how the Münchner fare in Berlin, Schaaf knows a Bremen win at home to the Werkself could see them top the table heading into the winter break.

Clearly it's not all doom and gloom at the Weserstadion. "We are still in a European competition over the winter, we are still in the DFB-Pokal and we are second in the Bundesliga with almost all of our players involved in their national teams," said Schaaf on Thursday. That shows how this team has dealt with problems."

Nonetheless, three points against Michael Skibbe's Leverkusen won't be easy. The West Phalians have won their last five games, catapaulting them to 4th in the table. A win on Saturday would even see them overhaul Bremen courtesy of a superior goal difference.

"Almost unnoticed, they have collected points and suddenly a club like them is right up there," explained Schaaf. "They have shown that they can play really good football."

Goal.com - Werder Bremen - Schaaf Tips Werder To Bounce Back

[Vargas_4]

Damn... Bremen are kicking Leverkusen's ass!

They're winning 5-1, atm

[Trim]

BL, MD17 / Werder Bremen 5 - 2 Bayer Leverkusen

7' [0 - 1] T. Barnetta
30' [1 - 1] I. Klasnic
50' [2 - 1] Diego
57' [3 - 1] C. Fritz
63' [4 - 1] I. Klasnic
69' [5 - 1] M. Rosenberg
76' [5 - 2] S. Kiessling

[Trim]

Werder Bremen 5 Bayer Leverkusen 2

Werder Bremen went on the rampage against Leverkusen, hitting five goals to come from behind and make up in some way for their midweek European disappointment.

Michael Skibbe’s side silenced the Weser Stadion with a goal after just six minutes. A wayward pass from Per Mertesacker was picked up by Paul Freier, whose long pass found Barnetta, who beat two defenders before firing under the crossbar from 16 meters.

Werder got themselves back in the game on the half hour mark with Ivan Klasnic celebrating his first goal since his return from his kidney transplant. Borowski fired in from close range, only for Adler to parry his shot. Klasnic reacted the quickest to fire in the equaliser.

Five minutes after the restart and Werder got their noses in front for the first time in the afternoon through midfielder Diego. Daniel Jensen did well to win the ball, before Rosenberg fed Diego to score.

On 57 minutes Werder put some more distance between them and Leverkusen with a third goal. Clemens Fritz got in on the scoring act after a good run and shot from the right hand side.

A rampant Werder scored fourth six minutes later with Klasnic getting his second of the game. It wasn’t long before Thomas Schaaf’s side grabbed a fifth with Markus Rosenberg getting in on the act on 69 minutes as he finished a superb move involving Jensen, Diego, and Klasnic.

Stefan Kießling grabbed a second for Leverkusen on 76 minutes as he headed after Tim Wiese could only parry a Simon Rolfes shot.

***

[Trim]

Schaaf had to deal with an inconsistent pre-season and an extraordinary injury list.

Who is available, who isn't? Schaaf had to deal with the same question every matchday. Ten injured professionals were all too frequent.

Werder started with a 2-2 draw at VfL Bochum, followed by a heavy 4-0 defeat against FC Bayern. By then, many experts had already ruled Werder out of the title race.

Bremen soon were six points behind runaway-leaders FC Bayern. But Schaaf kept a cool head, as always.

42 goals

Werder soon found their feet, and they started to play the impressive attacking football Schaaf is well known for.

42 goals in 17 matches is the best record in the Bundesliga, and the 8-1 home win over Arminia Bielefeld was a particular highlight.

Two substitutions after just 30 minutes

Schaaf isn't shy of unpopular methods. Last Saturday against Bayer Leverkusen he substituted both Tim Borowski and Jurica Vranjes after just half an hour with the game tied at 1-1.

"We didn't play well in the opening 30 minutes. That was down to the whole team, not only their fault. They certainly didn't have their best day, but I wanted our play to be more attacking and aggressive in midfield", Schaaf explained after the match.

Eleven wins, second place

And successfully so: Werder ran out 5-2 winners. It was Bremen's eleventh victory in the first half of the season, more than any other Bundesliga team has managed.

Not surprisingly Werder have climbed into second place, level on points with leaders Bayern. The title race is wide open once again.

[Trim]

Energie sign Werder player

FC Energie Cottbus have signed Kenny Schmidt.

The 20-year-old joined Cottbus from Werder Bremen and has put pen to paper on a contract until 2010.

The 1.84 metres tall striker had played for Werder's Under-23s in the Regional League North this season.

"We strengthen our Under-23s with Kenny Schmidt and hope to see him in our first team in the future", sporting director Steffen Heidrich explained.

***

[Dragoen]

um who?

I never heard of him. But we have so many striking talents. So it's easy to forget one.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Drawn against Braga, bastards
I was really hoping Braga would get drawn with Prague.. Oh well, if they play like they did against Bayern, then they may cause an upset and defeat Werder

[Trim]

Braga stinks, I hate teams who play ultra defence.

Bremen are a goal machine, so their defence will have very much trouble.

It won't be a walk in the park for Bremen, but they'll go through, leaving no space for surprises.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Originally Posted by Trim17

Braga stinks, I hate teams who play ultra defence.

Bremen are a goal machine, so their defence will have very much trouble.

It won't be a walk in the park for Bremen, but they'll go through, leaving no space for surprises.

Ultra defense ? Pffft, you clearly never seen them play then.
They were more attacking than Bayern in Portugal, hence their biggest number of shots, corners and goal scoring chances.

[Trim]

Originally Posted by Oliver_Kahn

Ultra defense ? Pffft, you clearly never seen them play then.
They were more attacking than Bayern in Portugal, hence their biggest number of shots, corners and goal scoring chances.

I've only seem them only once, against Bayern.

They played some ugly football. Tackle after tackle, foul after foul.

That's football? No.

[Trim]

Werder Bremen trainer Thomas Schaaf has reacted positively to the news from Nyon, that his side face SC Braga in the next stage of this season’s Uefa Cup.

“It will be a very interesting game against Braga” Schaaf explained after the draw in Switzerland. “They have already shown against Bayern in the group stage what an awkward opponent they can be as they made things difficult for Bayern.

SC Braga faced Bayern at home and managed to secure a 1-1 draw at the Municipal Stadion in Braga.

“That should be a warning to us. In Braga we expect a hot atmosphere and I know the stadium from my visit there with the U-21 team for the U-21 championship a year ago.

“Should we qualify, then an even tougher challenge awaits us, but we will concentrate on Braga in the first instance.”

Captain Frank Baumann also sees the tie as a game Werder can go into full of confidence.

“Braga are certainly beatable. We need to start with a good result at home in order to make the away leg slightly more comfortable.

“I followed their match with Bayern and they are a technically good side. But I am convinced that we will go through to the next round.”

The first leg takes place at the Weser Stadion with the return leg in Braga seven days later.

Bremen face a possible tie with either Glasgow Rangers or Panathinaikos if they overcome their Portuguese opponents.

Goal.com - UEFA Cup - Bremen Confident Of Progress After Braga Draw

[Oliver_Kahn]

Originally Posted by Trim17

I've only seem them only once, against Bayern.

They played some ugly football.

Not really, they deserved to win that match actually.
But hey, Portuguese teams are always overlooked, thats what makes us strong