Werder Bremen will face off against Udinese Calcio in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. The teams were paired together in the draw on Friday, 20 March 2009 in Nyon, Switzerland. The first leg of the quarters will...
Werder Bremen will face off against Udinese Calcio in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. The teams were paired together in the draw on Friday, 20 March 2009 in Nyon, Switzerland. The first leg of the quarters will...
Werder Bremen will face off against Udinese Calcio in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. The teams were paired together in the draw on Friday, 20 March 2009 in Nyon, Switzerland. The first leg of the quarters will take place on Thursday, 9 April 2009 in Bremen's Weser Stadion. And the return leg will follow a week later on Thursday, 16 April 2009 in Udine.
Should Werder Bremen reach the semi-finals, they will take on the winner between Hamburg and Manchester City. The first leg of the semi-final would then take place on Thursday 30 April 2009 in Weser Stadion and the return leg on Thursday, 7 May 2009 on the road.
General Manager Klaus Allofs:
"At the draw, we were sitting directly next to the Hamburg group and we were all hoping that it would not come to a German-German matchup. So we avoided that though we could meet up in the semi-finals. With Udinese Calcio, we will be facing a team with a lot of international experience. But that is the same for our team as well. This will be a very interesting showdown. Nobody should make the mistake of thinking that we will have an easy time of it because we beat the 'great AC Milan' and Udine are not as highly regarded by the general public. Neither of these games will be easy. We have to approach this task just as concentrated as we did against AS Saint-Etienne. Then we have good chances."
Head coach Thomas Schaaf:
"We have faced Udinese Calcio in the past and know it will not be easy. The team is currently in the middle of the table in the Italian league, but they knocked out the defending champions in the Round of 16. You can only do that with a very strong performance, meaning it will be a very tough game. We are starting again with a home game. That hasn't been the worst for us until now, so we hope that it continues like that."
Captain Frank Baumann:
"The team reacted very calmly to the draw. We know that Udinese is a very strong team, but we can be happy about the draw. We have the chance again to set the pace with a home game and then advance in Italy. Back then in the Champions League it was a very heated duel. The home game was very turbulent as we won 4-3. And Udinese's playing style has hardly changed since then. They are very compact in the back and have good players up front."
