The picket lines are up! The public service employees in Athens are striking for a fairer deal and so, Werder’s decision to be cautious has paid off. The Green-Whites decided to push their departure for Athens ahead by a day in order to have time to concentrate more on their preparations for the important Champions League tie on Wednesday evening - and the extra hours in the Greek metropolis could well be worthwhile. Each individual player will have the opportunity to carefully consider the current situation and how he can help improve things.

Movement, mental strength and the perfect balance between attack and defence will be essential again on Wednesday: “Panathinaikos didn’t win at the weekend but they played well. They are not just going to throw everything into attack against us but when they see the opportunity to set their battling, aggressive strikers into action they will do that - whilst remaining tight at the back. They have a team that saw many changes during the summer but they are also very experienced.”

For many it will be a reunion with some rather familiar faces and the Diego wasn’t the only one issuing a warning: “I know Gabriel and Gilberto Silva very well and know that they will give their all to prove successful. Gilberto is a very efficient midfielder with great reading of the game. It will be a fabulous duel with Gilberto. From a few of the others, who I only know fleetingly, such as Marcelo Mattos, I know that they are very capable of doing their jobs. They have a number of Brazilians in the team.”

There will not only be a South American reunion though. Austrian international Sebastian Prödl will be facing his national team captain Andreas Ivanschitz and trainer Thomas Schaaf’s opposing number is no stranger either: “That’s true! This will be our third international clash with Henk ten Cate. He was co-trainer in Barcelona, coach of Ajax Amsterdam and now Panathinaikos trainer.” There is one Green-White who knows him even better – Claudio Pizarro! Last season ten Cate was assistant to coach Avram Grant at Chelsea: “Because Grant played more of a sport director’s role, I had a lot of contact with Henk. I am very familiar with his work. He is a good trainer,” noted Pizarro.