Celta Plan To Use Their Heads

First Team
Thursday, 08.03.2007 / 09:42

The question as to the availability of midfield motor Torsten Frings was still unclear following Wednesday evenings training session at the Estadio Balaídos. The German international participated fully during training but remained doubtful.

The question as to the availability of midfield motor Torsten Frings was still unclear following Wednesday evenings training session at the Estadio Balaídos. The German international participated fully during training but remained doubtful. “It was a success in itself that I could participate today and it was better than in recent days but I will have to wait until tomorrow before I can make a definite decision”, commented Frings.

 

With or without Torsten Frings, Werder have earned a great deal of respect from the 17th placed side in the Spanish league and during a television interview with the Spanish sides coach, Fernando Vazquez, was full of praise for the German club: “They are one of the best teams in Germany and are one of the strongest teams left in the competition. They were very unlucky to have been eliminated from the Champions League. They have an amount of international experience and technically talented players. In my opinion they are the clear favourites for tomorrows game.

 

Vazquez was quick to warn of the physical strength of the Green-Whites as well as their qualities away from home: “Looking at their results, it is noticeable that they score more goals away from home than in their own stadium. They are especially dangerous from set plays. They are particularly powerful due to their physique.”

 

Still, Celta Vigo haven’t quite thrown in the towel yet though: “Of course we have also noted that, despite their strong defence, they do tend to concede a lot of goals. We have to make use of that. We will have to compensate our deficiencies with tactical methods. We’ll have to use our heads in this one”, declared Vazquez without naming concrete plans. “That’s all in my head!!”.

 

Vigo can’t hope for too much support from their own fans. The Spaniards are expecting few more than 10,000 fans for the Thursday evening game. Not really a surprise in Galicia, their last UEFA Cup tie at home to Moscow didn’t pull many more spectators. The club from north west Spain can only count on a full house three times throughout the season – when Real Madrid, Barcelona and Deportivo La Coruna come to visit.

 

Schaaf speaks: “Celta take precedence”

 

Lauda Air flight OS 9763 made a punctual take-off from the airport in Bremen at 9:30am, heading off towards northern Spain. The plane carrying the complete Werder contingency, including 18 players was starting out on the mission to reach the last 16 of the UEFA Cup competition. It was plane sailing all the way to Spain.

 

Concentration on the task ahead on Thursday evening was at the very top of the Green-Whites agenda. Thoughts of the up-coming Bundesliga clash with Bayern Munich have been pushed way back in the Werder minds. There are no real reasons for concern in the opinion of the clubs general manager Klaus Allofs: “We have been successful in recent years on the international scene. That can only work if we completely separate Bundesliga and other competitions. We’ve learned to do just that.”

 

Trainer Thomas Schaaf was in agreement with his managerial colleague: “It’s not difficult to put the Bayern game out of our minds. The opportunity to reach the last 16 in an international competition is a highlight in itself.” On a personnel level Thomas Schaaf was clear about the fact that there will be no resting up of players in view of other challenges ahead. Not even for the currently stricken Torsten Frings: “The task against Vigo has absolute precedence, there we must play our best team and Torsten is a part of that. If he is fit, he will play”, exclaimed Schaaf, who does have to plan on two levels: “We won’t have a final decision until tomorrow – we don’t know if training will be able to partake in final pre-match training.”

 

Weder will have to adopt an amount of defensive tactics in order to overcome international stall-werts Celta Vigo. In contrary to their weaknesses away from home, the Spaniards have proven a tough nut to crack at home in recent years in international competition. Only one team has left Vigo’s stadium with a win in the last eight years – Arsenal FC in 2004.

 

“We’ve done our homework and know of their strengths at home. Last weekend they lost 0:1 to Valencia, put played very strongly. Despite the class of the opposition, Vigo made life difficult for Valencia, who showed what they are capable of in the Champions League on Tuesday”, noted Schaaf and continued: “They keep things compact and don’t allow many chances through. Lequi is very stable at the back. They also have some firey characters across the midfield with Garcia, Iriney, Lopez and Nunez. Baiano is very dangerous up front. Canobbio is a man who can play deadly passes and hit a good shot on goal himself.”

 

Schaaf is playing his offensive cards close to his chest, despite the hat-trick man from last Saturday Aaron Hunt: “It’s good to know that we have a man to put alongside Miroslav Klose who scored three goals in his most recent game. They harmonise well together but there are other possible combinations. E have a strong attack, everyone of them is capable of making the first eleven.” Thomas Schaaf intends to use the full extent of his offensive power but knows his defence could be the decisive element. Schaaf commented: “We will have to finad a way through against Celta Vigo, and that won’t be easy.”

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