|
· See the current injury list for all Premiership Teams
· All the Spurs Stats you could hope for here! THFC6061 Sports Stats
Spurs record in Europe:-
U.E.F.A Champions League
P W D L F - A
2 1 0 1 6 - 3
European Cup
P W D L F - A
8 4 1 3 21 - 13
(Semi-Finalists 1962)
European Cup Winners Cup
P W D L F - A
33 20 5 8 65 - 34
(Winners 1963)
UEFA Cup
P W D L F - A
85 51 20 15 182-71
(Winners 1972, 1984
Finalists 1974)
Total
P W D L F - A
128 76 26 26 272-118
Into new territory
Spurs travel to north-west Germany for their first ever (Group A) Champions League Group Stage game against Werder Bremen on Tuesday night. It is an experience and a game that we have sought for so long. We travel with the good news that Luka Modric is fit to travl, despite his injury at The Hawthorns on Saturday.
Whilst the two teams have never previously met in competition, you don't have to look far for connections. When Shakhtar Donetsk knocked us out of the 2008-09 UEFA Cup, their final opponents were Werder Bremen, who lost 2-1. Werder's scorer that day, the Brazilian defender Naldo, is still on their books, but has yet to play this season.
Some Spurs fans had a late summer dream that Bremen's German World Cup star Mesut Ozil might come to White Hart Lane. That was indeed a fanciful dream, as Ozil went to Real Madrid. We will find the familiar face of former Man Utd and Arsenal defender Mikael Silvestre in the Werder squad. Silvestre played in Werder's creditable week-end stalemate at Bayern Munich, so might figure in our game. Another star defender and German World Cup star Per Mertesacker recently suffered a nasty cheek-bone injury and will not be available for our game.
Werder's big summer signing was Austrian striker Marko Arnautovic, who is just 21, and scored twice in Werder's 4-2 win over Koln recently, and once more for the Austrian Under-21s against Scotland. Arnautovic has been capped at full International level too. He came to Bremen from another of our Group A opponents - FC Twente - and also spent a little time on loan at Inter, so he knows a far bit about other teams in this group!
49 year old coach Thomas Schaaf has been managing at Bremen for some 15 years now, including 4 seasons in charge of the second team. Bremen qualified for Champions League football by virtue of their third place in last season's Budesliga, and by beating Sampdoria 5-4 on aggregate in the Play-Off Qualifying round. Peruvian striker Pizarro scored in both those games, and in the first round of the German Cup competition DfB Pokal. Bremen got to last season's final, when they were defeated 4-0 by Bayern, so Saturday's 0-0 is all the more credit-worthy.
Winger Marko Marin is going to be another player to watch, and he can threaten down both flanks. He's another 21 year old - born in Bosnia, but with German Nationality.
Like us, Bremen are mid-table, but they've only played three league games to date. Unlike us, Bremen have been in the Champions League before, and the last time was two years ago, when they finished third in their group behind Panathinaikos and Inter. Bremen have some pedigree and some form, so Spurs will need to lift their game for this match.
The aim really has to be to win our home games in this competition, and to grab a point or two on our travels. Bremen and Twente have to be our targets for a bonus point or two, but on form, and with our injury list, a draw is surely the best we should hope for this time. I expect Peter Crouch to start and to be supported by Van Der Vaart, with Lennon and Bale on the flanks. We expect Ledley King to lead us into battle and hope for more grit in the middle. Modric may have travelled, but whether he will be fit enough to start remains to be seen. I prefer Ekotto at left back to Gareth Bale, so perhaps Luka will be kept in reserve, with the shift of Bale to left back a tactical option.
I shall be travelling to this game, and will be unable to submit my report before Wednesday afternoon/evening. Whether or not you are travelling, enjoy the game!
Top of page | Index to 2010-11 Match Reports
|
