The final dress rehearsals of the two German teams ahead of the UEFA Cup semi-final first leg could not have been any more different. In Bremen, Werder came back from a nightmare first...
The final dress rehearsals of the two German teams ahead of the UEFA Cup semi-final first leg could not have been any more different. In Bremen, Werder came back from a nightmare first...
The final dress rehearsals of the two German teams ahead of the UEFA Cup semi-final first leg could not have been any more different. In Bremen, Werder came back from a nightmare first half to complete a superb victory over Bochum. While Hamburg left the Dortmund pitch with hanging heads, knowing their bitter loss means a serious setback in their Bundesliga title chances.
The Green-Whites, however, are miles from believing this constellation will make them over-confident. "These two Bundesliga matches have nothing to do with the game on Thursday," said Werder striker Hugo Almeida. "We will be playing in another competition and it's a North Derby. We will be starting again from scratch. Hamburg losing only means they will play even more intensive against us."
An advantage for Werder could be in the midfield if they can count on the top two players from Saturday afternoon. The majestic midfield combo of Mesut Özil and Diego were the driving force in the comeback against Bochum. Even opposing coach Marcel Koller raved about the hosts, saying: "Werder played to their real potential in the second half. With Özil you see the high quality they have in their ranks. He continually created holes and found his way into spaces given to him. We had a lot of problems with him."
It's no surprise that the young Werder player is anxiously awaiting the next game. "Yeah, I am really looking forward to the game on Thursday. If we can play our game again then we can win. The team really showed its moral against Bochum," said Özil, who was not worried about not starting against Bochum. "The coach surely wanted to give me a little break. But I played a really good 45 minutes and had a lot of fun. We did everything we wanted to do." Hopefully on Thursday as well ...
