Schaaf yearns for Bremen style

Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf remains concerned about his side's creative edge despite seeing them come from behind to beat NK Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie.

Missing spark
Goals from Hugo Almeida and Daniel Jensen at either end of the second half were enough to give Bremen a slender advantage after Boško Balaban had stunned the Weserstadion by scoring for the Croatian team. "After the first half we had to change things – it simply wasn't working for us," said Schaaf. "We got a little better and the goal gave us confidence too. But right now we don't seem able to produce exciting attacking football."

Room for improvement
Danish international Jensen, whose 85th-minute strike separates the sides going into the second leg on 29 August, said: "We won 2-1, that was important, but it was a difficult match. I hope we can improve our performance for the return leg in Zagreb."

'Opportunity knocked'
By contrast, visiting coach Branko Ivanković was full of praise for his charges, who he said could even have won on the night. "I have to congratulate my players for an outstanding display," he said. "Under other circumstances I would have been pleased with a 2-1 defeat, but we had a big opportunity to beat a big club like Werder. We were in control almost the entire game and had three more chances in the first half besides our goal. I think our chances are now 50/50 to progress."