Inter ripped Werder apart in 13 minutes, while Schaaf's side had no answers to Eto'o's brillinatly performed "false nine" role.
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| The starting line-ups |
Benitez lined up with his usual 4-2-3-1. Pandev and Milito were unavailable, so Eto'o was upfornt with debutants Coutinho and Biabiany on the left and right flank respectively. On the other hand, Thomas Schaaf had to deal with the absences of important players (Pizarro, Frings and Fritz, all got injured in the Bundesliga match against Hamburg) so he opted for a 4-5-1, with Jensen-Bragfrede-Borowski as the midfield trio while Wesley was preferred to Petri Pasanen at right back.
First Half (3-0)
The scoreline at half time speaks for itself.
Taking a look at Bremen's defence, it was clear that they would be easily put under pressure should Inter's front four were allowed to find any space. Eto'o's movements proved to be the key factor for this. The African had an excellent game, acting brilliantly as a "false nine", dropping deep and disorganizing the opposition defence.
The hosts' main plan was to exploit the space created when Eto'o was closed down by Werder's holding players as well as to play through balls on the shoulder of the opposition defenders. Both Silvestre and Wesley looked particularly uncomfortable. The Frenchman had problems with Biabiany's runs while Wesley obviously lacks of the positional awareness required to play at right back. Inter's wingers streched the play by occupying wide positions, before linking up with Eto'o, whilst Sneijder' performed his more attack minded role -a sign of Benitez era?- very effectively.
The hosts' main plan was to exploit the space created when Eto'o was closed down by Werder's holding players as well as to play through balls on the shoulder of the opposition defenders. Both Silvestre and Wesley looked particularly uncomfortable. The Frenchman had problems with Biabiany's runs while Wesley obviously lacks of the positional awareness required to play at right back. Inter's wingers streched the play by occupying wide positions, before linking up with Eto'o, whilst Sneijder' performed his more attack minded role -a sign of Benitez era?- very effectively.
