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Bremen Stun Chelsea

DW staff / DPA (rar)November 23, 2006

Barcelona could become the first Champions League holders to be eliminated in the first round of the competition after Bundesliga side Werder Bremen defeated Premiership champions Chelsea on Wednesday 1-0.

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Bremen's captain Torsten Frings, right, goes for a header during the Group A Champions league soccer match Werder Bremen against Chelsea
Frings, going for a header --had confidence Bremen has a chance of winningImage: AP

Although the La Liga side won 2-0 at Levski Sofia through goals by Ludovic Giuly and Andres Iniesta, they need a victory in their final Group A match against Bremen.

In Bremen, German defender Per Mertesacker scored the only goal of the match after a corner from Torsten Frings in the 27th minute. Frings said the team had believed in their chances of winning.

"We have been playing well in the Champions League and even though the situation was similar to our match against Barcelona where we conceded the equalizer in the last minute, we always believed that we would win," Frings said.

"It is now in our hands and that is a good situation to be in ahead of our last game. We do not need to be scared of Barcelona, but it will be a very tough match," he added.

Chelsea remain top of the group with 10 points -- the same number of points as Bremen-- but the Premiership club won the head-to-head contest and are assured of making it to the knock-out stages. Barcelona is on eight points.

Bayern tie Moscow after fake grass upset

The only club to have secured their place in the next round on Wednesday was Inter Milan, who beat Sporting Lisbon 1-0 in Group B through Hernan Crespo's first half goal, to move to nine points -- two behind Bayern Munich who drew 2-2 at Spartak Moscow in the early game.

Bremen's Tim Borowski, right, challenges for the ball with Chelsea's Michael Ballack, left during the Champions League match between Werder Bremen and Chelsea
Bremen's Tim Borowski, challenges Chelsea's Michael Ballack for the ballImage: AP

Prior to Wednesday's game, Bayern Munich coach Felix Magath criticized the European soccer body UEFA for allowing Champions League opponents Spartak Moscow to play home matches on artificial turf.

The visitors from Germany controlled much of the first half of their game, but allowed Spartak two goals from set pieces.

Maxym Kalynychenko opened the scoring with a well-taken free-kick in the 16th minute -- the first player to have scored against Bayern in the course of this season's Champions League.

Claudio Pizzaro equalized just six minutes later with a header from a Christian Lell cross and the Peruvian international gave the visitors the lead six minutes from the break with a long-range effort.

Spartak, who needed to win to stay in contention for a place in the next round, went forward in the second half and were rewarded in the 72nd minute when Radoslav Kovac scored the equalizer after a corner.

Sporting Lisbon remains on five points, while Moscow has just two.

Liverpool and Bordeaux move to top spots

Group C, where Liverpool and Dutch side PSV Eindhoven had already secured the two top spots in the group, has been finalized after the Premiership club beat Eindhoven 2-0 to finish top of the group.

Bayern Munich's Claudio Pizarro from Peru celebrates after scoring a goal during the UEFA Champions League Group B soccer match between Spartak Moscow and Bayern Munich
Bayern's Claudio Pizarro celebrates after scoring one of the two goals against MoscowImage: AP

Liverpool Captain Steven Gerrard opened the scoring midway through the second half before Peter Crouch added injury time insurance.

French club Bordeaux made sure of qualifying for the UEFA Cup with a 3-1 victory against Galatasaray -- a result that takes them to third place in the group.

Bordeaux, who had failed to score in their four previous Champions League matches, scored through Alejandro Alonso, Lilian Laslandes and Julien Faubert.

Junichi Inamoto pulled one back for the Turkish side, who had Arda Turan sent off on the hour for head-butting an opponent.

Ukraine defeat Roma

In Ukraine, Shaktar Donetsk kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the knock-out stage with a 1-0 victory against AS Roma.

Ciprian Marica's goal on the hour took Donetsk to five points.

Valencia are assured of winning the group after their 2-0 victory against Olympiakos Piraeus. The Spanish club has 13 points, while AS Roma, who take on Valencia in their final match, are on seven points.

The goals for Valencia were scored by Miguel Angulo and Fernando Morientes in the first two minutes after the restart.