Bad news for Werder Bremen: goalkeeper Tim Wiese injured himself in the final domestic training session before the team's departure for the Champions League game at Panathinaikos.
“It looks like a muscle fibre tear. There's no point in considering him for Wednesday. We've just got to wait and see now what the final diagnosis is”, head coach Thomas Schaaf said at a press conference.
Experienced stand-in
“He slipped going for a cross and injured himself”, understudy keeper Christian Vander said of the incident, adding, “It's a great pity for him, of course, but I'm looking forward to playing and am absolutely ready for it.”
Vander is no newcomer to the competition, having made two appearances last season; in the 3-1 home loss to another Greek side, Olympiakos Piraeus on October 3rd 2007, and the 3-2 victory over Real Madrid the following month.
Hunt out too
Aaron Hunt is another late drop-out for Wednesday's game. “Aaron had a knee-to-knee collision with Claudio Pizarro and something got bruised in the process. So he won't be travelling to Athens either”, Schaaf explained.
Missing too will be Daniel Jensen, who has an inflamed achilles tendon.
On the upside, Jurica Vranjes will be making the trip to the Greek capital after all. Vranjes had said after Sunday training that he would not be fit on account of a thigh muscle injury. Now though, says Schaaf, “Jurica will be on board.”
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