Werder Bremen suffered a heavy defeat in their first competitive game of the season. In Dusseldorf, last season’s third placed side were beaten 1:4 (1:3) by FC Bayern Munich in the quarter final of the Premiere League Cup. The north German’s took the lead through Tim Borowski after just nine minutes. Schweinsteiger levelled things up on 24’ before Altintop (27’) and Franck Ribéry (35’) extended the Bayern lead before the break. After the break the Green-Whites had little to offer the 51,000 crowd at the LTU Arena against a superior opponent on the day. Shortly after the start of the second period, Ribéry made it 1:4 for Bayern from the penalty spot.

Werder with a lightening start

Werder were forced to go into this game missing eight of their regular players, the latest two exemptions being Carlos Alberto, who is still awaiting permission to play from the Brazilian Football Federation and Hugo Almeida, who was having problems with an ankle injury. On the positive side, Per Mertesacker was passed fit to join Frank Baumann at the heart of the defence. In comparison to the Liverpool game, Pierre Womé replaced Christian Schultz on the left side of the back four and Jurica Vranjes started in place of Carlos Alberto. Bayern were also without the complete squad of stars they have put together. Luca Toni, José Sosa, Lukas Podolski, Valerian Ismael and Willy Sagnol were all missing for diverse reasonsIn the starting eleven, Marcell Jansen, Hamit Altintop, Zé Roberto, Franck Ribery and Miroslav Klose all made their competitive debuts for Bayern.

The Green-Whites made the brighter start to the game. Klose did pop up in front of Tim Wiese’s goal after just 40 seconds but the German international was standing in an offside position as he collected a pass from Schweinsteiger. Bremen then took over proceedings, leaving their opponent coming out second best with an aggressive approach and determination to win every ball. Thomas Schaaf’s men received an early reward for their efforts. Tim Borowski picked out Clemens Fritz with a pass and the unmarked full-back drove a pass across the face of the Bayern goal, which Markus Rosenberg couldn’t quite reach. FCB centre-half Lucio attemted to clear the danger from a lying position but only managed to set up Borowski who had advanced forward and the German international slammed a bouncing effort into the almost empty net – 1:0 for Werder.

Bayern find their feet, and the net

The rivalry between the two clubs, in the first game since the transfer of Klose ,was all too clear on the day with a collection of both niggly and intentional fouls in a game that Werder still controlled. Bayern’s equaliser came as something of a shock. Klose rose unmarked to powerfully head a Philipp Lahm cross goalwards which Wises spectacularly, but not convincingly, parried and Bastian Schweinsteiger was on hand to head the loose ball home (24’). The Bavarian side were now back in the game and ready to turn it in their favour. Hamit Altintop gathered the ball in an anything but dangerous position and unchallenged the new signing let fly from 25 meters out, burying past a chanceless Wiese into the top right corner (27’).

The fans got to see an attractive game of football in the first 45 minutes which was by now flowing only in one direction, much to the joy of the Red-White contingency. Werder got only one further sight of Kahn’s goal in the first half. Vranjes won a foul, after the Green-Whites probably should have had a penalty following a challenge from Jansen on Kevin Schindler, but the chance was wasted and the bulk of the play again swung in the opposite direction. Constant Munich pressure paid off in the 35th minute. Jansen got the ball back across from the by-line, Schweinsteiger miss-kicked but cruelly the ball fell perfectly for Ribéry who slotted home with his left to make it 1:3. Before the break, Ribéry, Altintop and Klose all had chances to finish Werder off but took ‘only’ a two goal lead into the break.

Andreasen and a wasp test Oli Kahn

The second half saw the tempo drop out of the tie as the energy levels of the players began to waver. Bayern presented themselves in very organised fashion, confident and rarely forced into error. Werder were willing but the strikers were being cut off from any midfield supply by a well drilled defence. Oliver Kahn was enjoying a relaxed afternoon which was only disturbed by a drive from Leon Andreasen from 40 meters out (67’) and a wasp sting (77’). In the meantime, the impressive French debutant Ribéry had made the score line 1:4 (54’), converting a penalty after Womé had handled in the Werder box.

Having been eliminated from the League Cup, Werder will continue their pre-season programme with two further friendly games before the Bundesliga kicks off in three weeks time. The first real test for Thomas Schaaf’s men will come on August 4th though when they travel to ‘Giant-Killers’ Eintracht Braunschweig for the first round of the DFB Cup. Bayern Munich will take on VfB Stuttgart in the League Cup semi-final on Wednesday, 25.07.2007 at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadium.

Johnnie Muldoon