SOCCER/Uefa Champions League: Werder Bremen 1, Chelsea 0 Chelsea last night qualified for the knockout stages courtesy of a superior head-to-head record with Werder Bremen but there will be little celebration. Not only did the Premiership champions lose and play below their best but Didier Drogba was taken off with what appeared to be an ankle or foot injury, meaning the team could face Manchester United on Sunday without their leading scorer.
Chelsea went to Old Trafford last season on the back of a Champions League defeat and lost, and will hope this was not a similar omen. They had the chances to at least draw this match but were neither at their most creative or slick. Despite that, only Tim Wiese's saves denied Andriy Shevchenko and Joe Cole in the last half hour, and Michael Essien shot wide in the final 10 minutes.
Jose Mourinho's side were increasingly dominant after the interval, with the tiring Bremen rarely looking like adding to their lead, but it came without great conviction for the most part as both teams wasted possession too readily. A win at home to Levski Sofia will guarantee that Chelsea top Group A but they will be without John Terry, who is suspended after being booked for throwing the ball away.
Mourinho had picked a strong team in the knowledge that a point would guarantee Chelsea's passage to the first knockout stage as group winners, but the starting XI turned out to be different - and marginally weaker looking - than the one he had announced on the eve of the match. In place of Shevchenko, who began on the bench, came John Obi Mikel.
There was no immediate word on whether the Ukranian had a slight injury but minds went back to Barcelona two seasons ago when Mourinho publicly named his side to play at Camp Nou and changed it before kick-off. Then, Damien Duff was included, to the Catalans' surprise.
Last night Bremen will have been surprised to find Joe Cole up front with Drogba but they hardly seemed to be thrown by that and there was a liveliness about much of their early play, with Diego at its heart. The Brazilian-born player, closely watched by Tottenham while at Santos, was operating behind two strikers and, given scope to roam, his quick feet and astute passes made him hard to control. Not long after he brought a save from Carlo Cudicini, his through ball picked out Hugo Almeida, only for the striker to steer a shot wide with defenders breathing down his neck.
The willingness of Bremen's full backs to push forward also caused Chelsea difficulties and the home team deserved the lead they took just before the half-hour. The manner of the goal will have angered Mourinho, coming from a set-play. A Torsten Frings corner picked out an unmarked Per Mertesacker and the central defender, who had threatened from a free kick less than a minute earlier, headed powerfully past Cudicini.
Chelsea's attacking had not been of the expected quality after a couple of early chances, the better of which saw Mikel nod over wastefully. Their passing was less slick than usual and the experiment with Joe Cole up front did not work initially.
He lost the ball twice with his back to goal in the face of strong tackles and seemed too eager to look to run on to passes over the top. He was caught offside more than once and his style is better suited to getting the ball wider or deeper.
Going behind sparked an improvement from Chelsea, though Bremen continued to look dangerous on the break and they had two chances to equalise before half-time. Joe Cole created the first after collecting Drogba's pass on the left, sending over a cross from which Michael Ballack was denied by the goalkeeper Tim Wiese.
A break started by Ballack saw Joe Cole released into the area by Mikel but, having come inside a defender, he scuffed his shot at the goalkeeper.
The sight of Cudicini saving at the near post early in the second half from the impressive Frings and then Diego was a reminder of Bremen's threat.
When Chelsea constructed one good move, the reliable central defender Naldo blocked from Drogba. But Mourinho's team rarely looked like conjuring a goal. He brought on Arjen Robben and Shevchenko to try to spark a change of fortune.
Almost immediately, after good work by Joe Cole, Shevchenko had a chance to set up Robben but his cross was blocked. Then a low Shevchenko free kick forced a save from Wiese.
Still, Mourinho will be thankful of qualification especially after Barcelona's 2-0 away win at Levski Sofia.
WERDER BREMEN: Wiese, Naldo, Wome, Mertesacker, Fritz, Diego, Daniel Jensen (Hunt 79), Frings, Borowski, Hugo Almeida (Schulz 87), Klose (Klasnic 90). Subs not used: Reinke, Pasanen, Vranjes, Andreasen. Booked: Borowski.
CHELSEA: Cudicini, Geremi, Boulahrouz, Terry, Ashley Cole, Makelele, Ballack (Wright-Phillips 77), Essien, Joe Cole, Drogba (Shevchenko 59), Mikel (Robben 59). Subs not used: Hilario, Diarra, Ferreira, Morais. Booked: Terry.
Referee: Lubos Michel (Slovakia).
