Werder Bremen remained undefeated on the road in Europe this season and moved into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup with a 2-2 draw in Saint-Etienne. An impressive first half was enough for...
Werder Bremen remained undefeated on the road in Europe this season and moved into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup with a 2-2 draw in Saint-Etienne. An impressive first half was enough for...
Werder Bremen remained undefeated on the road in Europe this season and moved into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup with a 2-2 draw in Saint-Etienne. An impressive first half was enough for Bremen's fifth consecutive draw on the road - and fourth time with a 2-2 score-line.
Bremen laid the foundation for the continuation of their European adventure with a strong first half. "It really proved worthwhile today to step on the peddle early. We quieted the fans pretty quickly and took control of the game. We didn't need a lot of goal chances to take a comfortable lead and stood really compact in the back. We knew that we had an advantage in dead ball situations. And it was good for us that it worked out right away on the first corner," said Torsten Frings about the first 45 minutes.
The German international midfielder was impressed with his team's overall performance. "We were really good and had a lot of fun playing today and the understanding between Diego, Markus (Rosenberg) and Mesut (Özil) was very good," added Frings. Özil was part of the second goal with a cross which was headed home by Claudio Pizarro. And the Peruvian scorer afterwards praised his assist-man. "I have often told him that he should play these balls - from the outside behind the backline. Either a striker will come to the near side; I will get the ball at the far post; or a defender will hit it in themselves. Those balls are so tough to defend. We need them more often and today it worked," said Pizarro. And defender Per Mertesacker added: "We really all pushed forward with a good spirit. And you could really see some good approaches."
Head coach Thomas Schaaf also was pleased. "We followed our duties intensively right from the start and didn't let them into the game. If you think about us having to play in a different formation then you have to recognise how well we harmonised today. We are very happy about that. Everybody really helped each other. And now we advanced another round. So I don't want to criticise things too much which we could have done better," added the coach.
