Bremen bid farewell to Europe
Ryland James
Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf said he was pleased his side bowed
out of Europe with an impressive, but alas meaningless, 3-0 win over
Champions League holders Inter Milan.
Goals either side of half-time by Austrian defender Sebastian Proedl
and compatriot Marko Arnautovic sealed the win against Rafael Benitez’s
lacklustre Italians before sub Claudio Pizarro added the third near the
end on Tuesday.
With Tottenham Hotspur drawing 3-3 at FC Twente to win Group A, Inter
go through as runners-up, but despite their first win of the competition
Bremen finish last and have failed to even claim a Europa League place.
Distracted
Inter were clearly distracted by their involvement in the Club World
Cup in Abu Dhabi later this month, but nevertheless Schaaf was happy his
side finally proved themselves in Europe.
“We put in a good performance and have at least said a decent goodbye
to the group,” said Schaaf, whose side are tenth in the Bundesliga and
face leaders Dortmund on Saturday in the German league.
“The victory is worth a lot: everything we set out to do, we
implemented.
“We now need to build on this. “Dortmund will certainly test us more
than Inter did, but this is our chance to prove ourselves against the
leaders.”
Passage
Despite having already secured their passage into the next round,
Inter failed to impress on a bitterly cold night in north Germany.
A shot count of 20-6 in Bremen’s favour told its own story and may
once again reignite the debate over the future of Inter coach Benitez.
“It was hard for us to react after the first goal, we had a few young
players out there and they found it tough going,” said Benitez. “The
first goal hurt us and we didn’t have many chances to get back in the
game after that.”
Werder Bremen’s director of sport Klaus Allofs took satisfaction from
a job well done.
“We can be very pleased,” he said. “In the second half, the team went
up a gear.
“Regardless of how tough the group was, it is annoying that we are no
longer in the tournament.” After both sides took their time to get into
the match, Bremen won seven corners without reply and made their seventh
count when centre-back Proedl rose highest and headed home on 39
minutes.
Midfielder
Bremen made sure of victory when striker Arnautovic latched onto a
superb pass from Almeida and volleyed home his shot on 49 minutes which
gave the Inter goalkeeper no chance. Inter hit the post when Argentinian
midfielder Esteban Cambiasso connected after the Italians won their
first — and only — corner of the game on 65 minutes in what proved to be
their best chance of the match. Bremen kept their foot on the gas until
the final whistle and were rewarded when Pizarro netted the final goal
in the 88th minute to end his team’s European sojourn in style.
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