mikaël silvestre picks out tottenham hotspur fc's peter crouch as the main threat to sv werder bremen as the former arsenal fc central defender targets another clean sheet.
after helping sv werder bremen hold fc bayern münchen to a goalless draw on his debut on saturday, mikaël silvestre has his sights on keeping tottenham hotspur fc off the scoresheet when the english side visit the weserstadion in uefa champions league group a on tuesday.
with bremen rocked by injuries to regulars per mertesacker and naldo, silvestre stepped in at left-back against bayern where he was given a stern test by philipp lahm's probing runs. it was the 33-year-old's first match since signing from arsenal fc in late august and he admitted "it was not easy to start from zero".
with a clean sheet and a point to show for his efforts, though, the former manchester united fc defender is looking forward to getting straight back into action on tuesday against a team he knows well. "we have only trained a few times together, but we are professionals," he said. "we have to communicate a lot and we will do our best to perform as well as we did in munich. everyone speaks english in germany so communicating is not a problem.
"i remember some good games against tottenham, and they have improved and are now one of the best teams in one of the best leagues. they deserve to be playing in the champions league. tottenham have a lot of experienced players including [silvestre's former arsenal and france team-mate] william gallas. he is a big fighter."
with jermain defoe injured, peter crouch is likely to lead the line for tottenham, and he is a player silvestre recognises as being "very dangerous in the air". he added: "he is always in the right place at the right time. you can compare him to david trezeguet in that regard."
before the stalemate at bayern, bremen had conceded nine goals in their previous three games. silvestre, though, is confident the hosts can handle the tottenham threat. "there are no easy games in the champions league but we can beat anyone and teams have a lot of respect for werder bremen. i have played a lot of games in this competition and i'm used to it and i have complete faith in my colleagues. they are very experienced and we can handle the pressure."
yardımcı hakemler: matthias arnet (sui), francesco buragina (sui)
4. hakem: daniel wermelinger (sui)
çizgi hakemleri: sascha kever (sui), carlo bertolini (sui)
bremen: tim wiese (gk), petri pasanen, wesley (dk. 67 tim borowski), marko arnautovic, clemens fritz, marko marin, sebastian prödl, mikaël silvestre, torsten frings (c), hugo almeida (dk. 79 sandro wagner), philipp bargfrede (dk. 37 aaron hunt)
yedekler: sebastian mielitz (gk), sebastian boenisch, said husejinović, daniel jensen
teknik direktör: thomas schaaf (ger)
tottenham: carlo cudicini (gk), gareth bale, younès kaboul, tom huddlestone, aaron lennon (dk. 76 wilson palacios), jermaine jenas, rafael van der vaart (dk. 49 robbie keane), peter crouch, vedran Ćorluka, ledley king (c), benoît assou-ekotto
yedekler: stipe pletikosa (gk), roman pavlyuchenko, william gallas, sébastien bassong, niko kranjčar
teknik direktör: harry redknapp (eng)
goller: 0-1 [kendi kalesine] petri pasanen dk. 12 0-2 peter crouch dk. 18 1-2 hugo almeida dk. 43 2-2 marko marin dk. 47
sarı kartlar: dk. 90+1 tim borowski (bremen) dk. 52 tom huddlestone, dk. 66 jermaine jenas (tottenham)
the visitors surged into a two-goal lead on their group stage debut but efforts either side of the break cancelled out their advantage.
sv werder bremen clawed back a two-goal deficit to earn a share of the spoils in an exhilarating 2-2 draw with tottenham hotspur fc in tuesday's group a curtain-raiser.
in a match that snugly fitted the cliche of a game of two halves, tottenham initially made their first outing at this level look routine as a petri pasanen own goal on 13 minutes and a peter crouch header five minutes later gave them a healthy advantage. bremen, though, regrouped and goals from hugo almeida and marko marin in an irresistible four-minute spell either side of half-time earned the hosts a point ahead of their matchday 2 trip to holders fc internazionale milano. tottenham will next host fc twente.
it may have been the visitors making their group stage debuts, but it was bremen who appeared riddled with stage fright on their return to the competition after a one-season absence. bremen had barely mustered a meaningful attack when pasanen turned gareth bale's enticing cross into his own net under pressure from crouch, and there was an air of inevitability when bale flighted another inviting centre towards the england forward. it is doubtful that bremen's own towering presence, the injured per mertesacker, could have done anything to foil crouch as he rose majestically before heading back across tim wiese and into the far corner.
bremen have often proved hit-and-miss, and they were enduring one of the latter evenings with only a brilliant wiese parry from a bale drive between them and a three-goal deficit. with his team rocking, thomas schaaf introduced aaron hunt and bremen's vaunted front line suddenly clicked into gear – almeida nodding wesley's cross beyond carlo cudicini to revive hopes before forcing the italian goalkeeper to parry his snap shot.
bremen were galvanized, though, and suddenly the confidence that had been so conspicuously lacking was coursing through the side. seconds after the restart hunt's stinging effort grazed cudicini's hands before marin showed why bremen are confident the departure of mesut özil will not be too keenly felt – the diminutive german international's deft twist away from a phalanx of defenders merely the prelude to a low attempt that zipped between cudicini and a post.
almeida then bustled through and fired narrowly over, and hunt cleverly crafted space for a shot that flew just too high, but bremen often give opponents chances – tottenham, though, failed to take theirs. crouch and robbie keane both lunged in vain to connect with bale's driven cross, and the former clipped a shot over wiese but agonisingly wide of the target from wilson palacios's beautifully disguised pass.
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