Lyon keep Bremen at bay

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 Ismaël, 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 in easily.