Werder Bremen host a Tottenham side on Tuesday looking forward to their first taste of action in the Champions League proper.
The German side, who have qualified for Europe’s best club competition in six of the last seven seasons, have a number of key players with Champions League experience ahead of the start of this year’s competition, with three of their squad - Per Mertesacker, Naldo and Claudio Pizarro - making over 100 appearances in the tournament between them.
Despite boasting well-known names around European football, Werder have had a mixed start to their Bundesliga campaign. After finishing third in the league last year, they currently sit 10th in the table - though only three games have been played - after recovering from a shock 4-1 defeat to Hoffenheim on the opening day of the season to beat Koeln 4-2 and gain a creditable draw away to Bayern Munich.
Over the last couple of years Werder have had to part with arguably their best player of the previous season. Following the 2008-09 season, when they were losing UEFA Cup finalists, they sold Diego to Juventus, while they allowed World Cup 2010 star Mesut Oezil to join Real Madrid this summer. Wesley has been brought in this summer to bolster their midfield options and will be one of many players hoping to ruin Spurs’ day.
Time To Compete At Highest Level
While Werder qualified for the group stage of the tournament with a play-off win over Sampdoria, Tottenham made sure of progression the hard way after overturning a 3-0 deficit just 30 minutes into their first leg away to Young Boys to win 6-3 on aggregate, to secure their place in the Champions League group stage for the first time since its introduction.
Harry Redknapp’s role in Spurs’ success over the last couple of years cannot be overlooked. With a squad based largely on the same players that were at the club before his arrival, the former Portsmouth boss has turned a team who had just two points from eight Premier League games when he took over in 2008 into Champions League participants who have a serious chance of progressing to the knockout stage.
Tottenham looked as though they would have a good start to the season results-wise when the fixture list was announced, but that hasn’t been the case. The London club drew 0-0 at home to Manchester City on the opening day of the season and followed that up well with a 2-1 win over Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium. However, two disappointing results have followed as they lost 1-0 at home to lowly Wigan Athletic before drawing 1-1 at newcomers West Bromwich Albion at the weekend.
Despite their indifferent start to the season, Spurs look set to launch a challenge for a Champions League spot once again this year - a case strengthened by the summer captures of William Gallas and Rafael van der Vaart. They face a tough battle on the European front, however, as not only Werder Bremen, but Italian champions Inter and Dutch champions Twente also stand in their way.
TEAM NEWS
Werder Bremen
The big news for the hosts is that centre-back Per Mertesacker will be out for the next month with a broken eye socket.Mertesacker’s partner at the back Naldo is also missing with a knee injury, which means former Manchester United and Arsenal defender Mikael Silvestre will continue in defence.
Meanwhile, Torsten Frings, Tim Borowski, Aaron Hunt and Claudio Pizarro look set to start after shaking off slight knocks.
Possible starting XI: Wiese; Fritz, Proedl, Silvestre, Pasanen; Borowski, Frings, Bargfrede; Marin; Hunt, Pizarro.
Tottenham
Spurs were hit with a massive blow on Saturday as it was feared Luka Modric could be out for some time, but his leg injury is not as bad as first feared and he could play a part in Germany.Jermain Defoe will miss the game after being ruled out for three months with torn ligaments, while Michael Dawson is sidelined for two months with a knee injury.
Heurelho Gomes may not recover from his groin injury in time to regain his place, so Carlo Cudicini could continue in goal.
Possible starting XI: Cudicini; Corluka, Gallas, King, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Palacios, Huddlestone, Bale; Van der Vaart; Crouch.
Prediction
 Werder Bremen 2-1 Tottenham |  | |
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