Lyon keep Bremen at bay
Thursday, 3 March 2005
By Mark Bennett

Werder Bremen's strikers have played a huge part in the club's recent
successes, but as they succumbed to a disastrous 3-0 home defeat against
Olympique Lyonnais in the first leg of their last-16 UEFA Champions League
tie last week, Thomas Schaaf's side were found lacking in attack.

Successful strikers
Last season Bremen won the Bundesliga title and the German Cup thanks to the
exceptional form of their strikers. Brazilian Ailton was on target 28 times
in the Bundesliga alone with his Croatian strike partner Ivan Klasnic adding
another 13 goals.


Enter Klose
Despite the departure of the flamboyant Brazilian to FC Schalke 04 in the
summer, Bremen's front-runners continue to pose a threat to defences. Klasnic
has been on target six times this season and German international Miroslav
Klose, brought in as a replacement for Ailton, has found the net 12 times.

European angle
The duo of Klasnic and Klose, known in German as the "K & K Connection", also
terrorised defences in the group stage of the Champions League. Klose scored
twice, Klasnic five times. Moreover, 21-year-old Nelson Valdez was on target
twice, taking the strike-force's tally to nine goals and securing them second
place in Group G behind FC Internazionale Milano.

Lack of form
In the first leg against Lyon, the Bremen strikers failed to show that kind
of form. However, in their defence it could be said that their hopes of
victory had taken a blow before the first ball had even been kicked. Klasnic
picked up a calf injury while warming up for the match in the Weserstadion
and was completely frustrated. "I was really looking forward to the match and
then I pick up an injury," said the 25-year-old.

Klose off colour
With Klasnic missing, coach Schaaf could only turn to one half of the "K & K
Connection", Klose. But the German international was not fully fit after only
just returning from illness. "Losing Ivan is obviously always a blow and with
Miroslav not fully fit we lacked our edge in and around the penalty area,"
admitted Schaaf after the defeat against the French champions.

No excuses
However, the Bremen coach made no attempt to use the absence of Klasnic or
the condition of Klose as an excuse for his side's performance. "We have got
enough alternatives on the bench and Nelson Valdez has proved his value on
more than one occasion," he said.

Le Guen unconcerned
Bremen did create their share of chances in the match, but failed to
capitalise on any of them - something that Lyon coach Paul Le Guen noted. "I
never really had the feeling that Bremen were going to score and I was never
really worried by their attacking attempts," he said. Fabian Ernst, Bremen's
captain on the night, could only agree. "We lacked dedication and
ruthlessness in front of goal and we weren't a real threat," said the German
international.

Scoring touch
However, Lyon should know better than to let their guard drop in the second
leg. Valérien Isma?l, Frank Baumann, Valdez and Johan Micoud all scored in
Bremen's 4-0 demolition of VfL Bochum 1848 at the weekend. And as Lyon
learned to their cost when they let a 3-0 first leg lead slip to lose 4-3 on
aggregate to Bremen in the "Weser Wonder" UEFA Cup game of 1999/00, Bremen do
not give

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FROM 202.205.10.10