Schaaf celebrates Bremen's 'first step'

Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf felt his side's 2-1 victory against S.S. Lazio was a "first step" towards reaching the UEFA Champions League knockout stages after goals by Boubacar Sanogo and Hugo Almeida gave the German side their first points in Group C. Lazio, who scored a consolation goal through Christian Manfredini, are now bottom of the section with coach Delio Rossi prepared for a decisive match when the teams meet again in a fortnight.

Thomas Schaaf, Bremen coach
We said before the match we really needed to win and we achieved what we wanted. I am very pleased with the victory, it is our first step to reaching the first knockout round. But it is only that – a first step in the right direction. We now have to build on today's performance in the matches to come and continue to get good results. It was important our key players returned in time for this match. These players are high quality and that's what we need in the UEFA Champions League to be able to perform at this high level. Maybe we were a little bit careless towards the end but we were deserved winners, there is no doubt about that.

Delio Rossi, Lazio coach
Overall I am pleased with the way my team performed today. We played well in the first 20 minutes but then we were thrown off pace and shortly afterwards we conceded the first goal. Of course I feel sorry my team lost, especially as they did not deserve to after a very committed performance. We said beforehand that the match at home against Bremen would be a crucial one and now it is. In the return match we will find out if we still have a chance of reaching the first knockout round or whether our hopes are over.