Little Magician Marko Marin Shines As Werder Bremen Fail To Win.

Bundesliga big-boys Werder Bremen hosted English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, who notoriously broke the ‘Top Four’ trend in England last season which had previously consisted of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool consecutive top four league finishes consecutively for the past seven years.

Werder Bremen fielded a depleted back-line and it immediately showed against a Tottenham Hotspur side who have been struggling domestically recently, with a 1-0 loss to Wigan and a 1-1 draw at West Brom being their most recent league results. Despite that, Tottenham have a wealth of attacking talent and head coach Harry Redknapp unleashed it upon Werder Bremen with devastating effect.

An awful own-goal from Petri Pasanen as early as 12 minutes in after an excellent run and cross from Gareth Bale seemed to knock the stuffing out of Werder Bremen early on. Tottenham took the game to Werder Bremen and made their attacking threat count once more through Gareth Bale and Peter Crouch, who smashed a header into the back of the net after an excellent cross from the Welsh left-back on 18 minutes. Certainly not the start Werder Bremen were hoping for, especially on home turf.

Fortunately, Werder Bremen steadied themselves instead of losing focus, and started to take control of the match. Two minutes before the half, summer signing Wesley and Portuguese hitman Hugo Almeida put Werder Bremen back in with a fighting chance after Wesley hoisted the ball into the box for Almeida to smash into the back of the net. Schaaf’s men came back from the break full of determination and composure, and found the equalizer through Marko Marin, who was dangerous throughout the match despite taking a battering from Tom Huddlestone and Vedran Corluka.

This wasn’t the result Werder Bremen would have been hoping for at all, and it could cost them their place in the round of sixteen. It’s unlikely that Werder will pick up points in North London on the return trip to Tottenham, and it’s also unlikely that Bremen will be able to pick up any points in Italy against Inter. Points away to Twente are possible, but they won’t come without a fight. While it’s still early, it’s quite likely that dropping two points at home against Tottenham, who will most probably challenge Werder Bremen for second place in the group, could cost the Bundesliga side a place in the round of sixteen.

Both sides had chances to win the match late on, with Aaron Hunt and Marko Marin hitting it wide from close range. Peter Crouch was put through twice at the other end, but failed to hit the back of the net.

This weekend, Werder Bremen face Mainz, who have been on flying form. Schaaf’s side will need to improve – and quick.