Bremen may bear brunt of Emery fury

Valencia CF coach Unai Emery is determined to stand up to a powerful Werder Bremen side in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 – as his team bid to exorcise their "worst performance of the season".

With a nine-man Valencia having already lost 4-1 at Club Atlético de Madrid in the Spanish Liga on 28 February, Emery's men plumbed a new low with Monday's 0-0 home draw against Real Racing Club. Emery, though, is adamant they will put things right against Bremen in Thursday's first-leg tie.

"The second half against Racing was our worst performance of the season, and it ended a run when we were doing all the right things at home," he said. "Now we have a chance to prove that was just an accident."

Bremen won 2-0 at Mestalla on their only previous visit in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League group stage, but revenge was far from the mind of David Silva. "We do not look back," he said, "we focus on the present." The Valencia forward labelled the German Bundesliga outfit a "really strong and tall" side, adding: "Scoring and not conceding will be very important." Emery, meanwhile, demanded a show of strength, saying: "The fans and the team have to be focused on the same target. If we can pull together that would be really positive."

The hosts are likely to be without midfielder David Albelda and defender Bruno Saltor, but Bremen's situation is more severe: Sebastian Boenisch (knee), Peter Niemeyer (ankle) and Sandro Wagner (cruciate ligament) are all unavailable. In addition, midfielder Philipp Bargfrede is struggling with a cold, although defender Clemens Fritz is back in training after a thigh problem.

Werder coach Thomas Schaaf was nonetheless looking forward to this first instalment. "This will be a nice test for us," he said. "They are very good – they're third in Spain, which says it all. They have a big, powerful forward in Nikola Žigić, but they play with lots of small, quick players around him."