For the German international within the Werder Bremen squad, the Italian-German week will be shortly interupted by a Bundesliga game at the BayArena against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Werder face a Champions League dress rehearsal on Saturday, 04.03.2006 at 3:30pm before they make their way to Italy to face Juventus in Turin.

That this will be no easy task can be seen by taking a glance at the recent record of the Rheinland side. Michael Skibbe's team have notched up four post winter break wins, as many as in the whole of the first round of games. Leverkusen have lost just two games since the re-start against Bayern (0:1) and Schalke (4:7). Their home record this year is most positive where they have won every game.

Werder don't have particularly fond memories of the BayArena. Last season the Green-Whites suffered a 1:2 defeat. Despite battering the Bayer goal throughout the second half, Thomas Schaaf's men couldn't regress the balance of a poor first 45 minutes.

The Werder coach has also taken notice of the current form of Leverkusen: "Their win in Cologne has become a further notch on their belts. After four games that didn't go quite as planned, they have now tanked up on confidence. Their attack is particularly strong, we'll have to be careful of that. Berbatov and Voronin are in good form and Freier is on his way back to full strength. I don't expect them to be so offensive against us but leave the play to us and then when in possession hit us on the break with quick forward ball's."

Bayer Leverkusen have a great deal of respect for their guests from the north, despite their success since Christmas: "Our defence weren't under so much pressure against Duisburg or Cologne - that'll be different on Saturday. Bremen are an extremely strong side and have a dangerous strike force, and I don't just mean two players. They also have a midfield with Micoud and Borowski who are also capable of scoring goals. They are particularly dangerous from set plays and from the flanks", warned Bayer coach Michael Skibbe.

Their will once again be changes in the Werder midfield as compared to the Gladbach game. This time the changes won't be forced through suspension but because captain Frank Baumann picked up a knock on the knee against Juventus. The 30 year old has been forced out of training with a resulting knee ligament tear. The situation the last time the two met at the Weser Stadium was similar when Frank Baumann was replaced by Daniel Jensen. The Green-Whites still managed to pick up all three points thanks to goals from Miroslav Klose and Ivan Klasnic in a 2:1 win.

The Werder coach has an otherwise full squad to choose from with all players returning uninjured from international duty. A question remains over Torsten Frings fitness after he complained of a groin problem after Germany's 4:1 defeat in Italy. Thomas Schaaf is hopeful though the problem will no longer be an issue by Saturday.

Those responsible at Werder Bremen will have a special eye on the performance of one particular Bayer player. Clemens Fritz will face his future employers on Saturday. His coach Skibbe doesn't see that as a problem: "He can prove to Bremen on Saturday that they made the right decision in signing him."

Johnnie Muldoon