Borowski senses Madrid weakness

Real Madrid CF may not be the ideal team to come up against when facing UEFA Champions League elimination, but Tim Borowski believes he and his Werder Bremen colleagues can exploit the visitors' "weak points" on Wednesday.

Confidence high
Three defeats from four games have left Bremen bottom of Group C and in desperate need of victory against Bernd Schuster's frontrunners to rescue their campaign. To make matters worse, they will be without suspended talisman Diego and a host of injured regulars, yet Borowski insists they can prevail. "It's true Real are one of the best teams in the world and we have lots of players missing, but we're full of confidence and we saw in our last match that they have weak points," the midfielder said.

'Great spirit'
The two sides previously met in the Spanish capital in September when a 2-1 win for the hosts marked the start of Bremen's troubled Group C attempt. The result did not tell the full story, however, as Thomas Schaaf's men impressed with their organisation and desire – qualities that Borowski feels could give them an edge in the rematch. "When I say Real have a weakness, they're obviously a great team," said the German international. "But what they have is a lot of individual talent, whereas we're a great team in a collective sense. We have a great spirit here and that could be one of the keys to the match."

Home advantage
Borowski's ebullience could also stem from the fact he is happy to be playing at all, having recently returned to action after a serious knee injury in the summer. He has likewise worked his way back into the Germany picture and teamed up with Madrid's Christoph Metzelder during the 4-0 UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying victory against Cyprus on 17 November. "I didn't speak to Christoph about this match," said the 27-year-old. "He's another one of their good players but we'll put out a very capable team of our own. Plus we'll be at home, so we really think we can win. We respect Real, but we don't fear them."

Wiese injury
Nothing seems like shaking Bremen's confidence, in fact – not even a last-minute injury to goalkeeper Tim Wiese. "It was very surprising to learn that today but we have to accept it," said Borowski, whose side lie second in the Bundesliga. "Even though it's a big loss, Christian Vander is a very good replacement and he'll enjoy taking on Real."