CL Preview: Juventus-Werder Bremen
Italian champions Juventus face free-scoring Werder Bremen in Turin on Tuesday night needing at least one goal to stand a chance of progressing to the Champions' League quarter-finals.
BACKGROUND
While hardly an insurmountable task - Juve have already scored two away goals in Bremen - the Serie A leaders have often fallen flat in Europe in recent seasons when faced with exactly the same target. Failure to breach Milan's defence in the 2003 final ultimately cost the crown, while Liverpool eased past the Bianconeri last season having kept a clean sheet in Turin.
Werder, meanwhile, approach the game in the happy position of having turned an impending first-leg defeat into a famous victory with two late goals at the Weserstadion. Yet, despite the underdog tag, Bremen are eager to complete the job. "We know all too well what we need to deliver," said Werder sports director Klaus Alloffs in the build-up to the game. "Juventus are the clear favourites," he added. Striker Miroslav Klose, the Bundesliga's top scorer, is confident of netting in Italy: "We need to play at least as well as we did in the first leg, if not better. But I'm sure we can score at least one goal there," he said this week.
TEAM NEWS
Juventus coach Fabio Capello has worries concerning his attack, with both David Trezeguet and Zlatan Ibrahimovic injury doubts. Capello told Sunday's La Gazzetta dello Sport: "I honestly don't know what stage they've reached in their recoveries or whether they will be fit in time for Werder. We will need to see them in training before making a decision, because in a match like this the fitness of every single player becomes very important."
Bremen are hopeful of bringing captain Frank Baumann and Brazilian Naldo back into the side that drew 1-1 at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
POSSIBLE LINE-UPS
Juventus: Buffon; Balzaretti, Thuram, Cannavaro, Zambrotta; Camoranesi, Emerson, Vieira, Nedved; Ibrahimovic, Trezeguet.
Werder Bremen: Wiese; Owomoyela, Fahrenhorst, Naldo, Schulz; Baumann, Frings, Borowski, Micoud; Klose, Klasnic.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Pavel Nedved (Juventus)
One of the great players of the last decade, this could be his last Champions' League clash with Juventus.
Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen)
Combative, honest, and always good for a goal, Frings is critical to Bremen's chances of holding out while catching the Italians on the break.
PREDICTION
Werder's joyous swashbuckling style is hamstrung by an inability to defend. An articulated truck could be driven through the Bremen rearguard with space for shoulder pads. That's what will probably decide this tie in the Italians' favour, but if the Germans truly believe a shock is entirely possible. Given the personnel and styles on view, it's either that or a resounding home win. With Bremen the overwhelming top scorers in Germany, there will be no chess game here.
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