Werder striker made very clear of how important a win against Hamburg SV on Saturday would be. Aside from a very important three points and the prestige win over their northern rivals, it would also book a direct ticket to the Champions League for the Green-Whites. It would mean escaping the horror of a tough qualification series. "We know from our own experience how difficult that round can be. It took a late win for us to overcome FC Basel last season."
A quick look at the tables around Europe makes very clear the challenge that faces the qualifying teams all too clear. Their is a very prominent list of teams that could be awaiting Werder. Although Werder came through their last qualification tests, this time they could meet AC Florenz (Italy), CA Osasuna (Spain), Fenerbahce Istanbul (Turkey), Schachtjor Donezk (Ukraine), Austria Wien (Austria), Roter Stern Belgrad (Serbien und Montenegro), Heart of Midlothian (Scotland) or Red Bull Salzburg (Austria).
Hamburg will also fight tooth and nail to hold onto second place. Were they to enter the qualifying pool their task would be all the more difficult. HSV have little chance of being seeded which would mean facing FC Arsenal, der FC Liverpool, Inter Mailand, Ajax Amsterdam or Glasgow Celtic.
The first leg of qualifying games will take place on 08/09.08.2006 with the return leg a week later on 15/16.08.2006. The last German team to be eliminated at that stage were Borussia Dortmund in 2003 when they were beaten 2:1 and then 4:5 in a penalty shoot out by Belgiums FC Brugge.