fc twente striker marc janko warned that sv werder bremen were like "a wounded boxer" as the bottom sides in group a meet, adding: "if we want to go through we have to win."
marc janko is wary of off-colour sv werder bremen as his fc twente side look to secure their first uefa champions league group stage win against their fellow back markers in the section.
thomas schaaf's team lie 11th in the bundesliga and started their group a campaign with a 2-2 draw at home against tottenham hotspur fc, followed by a 4-0 defeat at fc internazionale milano. however, the 27-year-old janko felt that bremen's sheer unpredictability was a cause for concern.
"you can compare them with a wounded boxer in the ring," said the tall marksman, who left fc salzburg for enschede in the summer. "that can be when a fighter is at their most dangerous. you don't know what they will do. it will be a difficult game for us.
"bremen are a top-class side and they have been at the top end of the german league in recent years," he added. "that might not be the case right now, but it is the same with [fc] bayern [münchen], and they are still strong too. they have a lot of quality, but hopefully we can find a way to break them down and gain the win."
victory at this stage is crucial. with both sides recording a draw and a loss after two games, they are already three points off the section's leading pair, who also meet on wednesday. however, janko said: "we will have to play a controlled attacking game. we cannot play a hara-kiri style. we have to try and get shots on goal and score.
"it is going to be difficult for both sides," he added. "having the fans behind us for the full 90 minutes helps you forget when you are tired; when you are behind they push you even harder. there's a good atmosphere here. both teams have one point now and if we want to go through we have to win. we will do everything to achieve that."
janko, meanwhile, is eager to get his name on the scoresheet a little more often. he has yet to find the net in group a, and while four goals in nine eredivisie games is a decent start, the austrian international still feels he can do better. "the important thing is that the chances are coming," he said. "unfortunately, i haven't scored that many, but it would be great to score [against bremen]. to start with, i had to adapt to the game here which is a bit faster than in austria. in the last match, i took a step forward. i can still improve myself."
1. fc internazionale milano...3...2...1...0...10...5...5...7 2. tottenham hotspur fc...3...1...1...1...9...7...2...4 3. sv werder bremen...3...0...2...1...3...7...-4...2 4. fc twente...3...0...2...1...4...7...-3...2
marko arnautović came off the bench to score against his former club and earn bremen an away point in group a.
marko arnautović scored a late equaliser against his old side to earn sv werder bremen a 1-1 draw against fc twente in group a.
theo janssen opened the scoring with 15 minutes to play in a tight game in enschede, but the home side were pegged back by austrian international arnautović, who had come on as a 59th-minute substitute. the result leaves both team locked on two points at the bottom of a section led by fc internationale milano with the return to come in germany in a fortnight.
twente dominated the early possession without working any clear openings until the 11th minute when bryan ruiz burst forward from near the halfway line before curling a shot narrowly wide from the edge of the d.
home coach michel preud'homme was forced into a change on 23 minutes when captain peter wisgerhof hobbled off injured. rasmus bengtsson took his place in central defence. with that switch came a change of momentum and twente, who had hitherto been under little pressure, almost fell behind to a goal of their own making.
dwight tiendalli's misplaced pass on the halfway line gave hugo almeida the chance to run at bengtsson and he fired a low strike from ten metres that nikolay mihaylov did well to block with his legs. six minutes later bremen had to make a change of their own; goalkeeper tim wiese making way for sebastian mielitz after injuring his knee unchallenged.
mielitz was immediately under pressure, scrambling the ball clear after from denny landzaat after failing to hold marc janko's low shot, while ruiz then shot into the side netting.
bremen came out brightly at the start of the second half and on 48 minutes mihaylov punched away wesley's shot before claudio pizarro, scorer of a hat-trick against twente in the uefa europa league last season, just failed to connect with aaron hunt's free-kick.
against the run of play, however, twente struck. janko chested down a deep cross from the left and the ball ran for janssen, who fired in from close range after his first effort had been saved by mielitz.
just five minutes later, bremen drew level when arnautović ran onto pizarro's chipped pass and rifled high into the net. there was still time for janssen and substitute luuk de jong to spurn chances at the other end, before pizarro had an effort ruled out for offside in a frantic finale.
yardımcı hakemler: henrik sønderby (den), anders nørrestrand (den)
4. hakem: kenn hansen (den)
çizgi hakemleri: lars christoffersen (den), henrik nystrup kragh (den)
twente: nikolay mihaylov (gk), peter wisgerhof (c) (dk. 24 rasmus bengtsson), wout brama, denny landzaat (dk. 86 luuk de jong), theo janssen, bryan ruiz, roberto rosales, douglas, marc janko, nacer chadli, dwight tiendalli
yedekler: sander boschker (gk), nicky kuiper, bernard parker, dario vujičević, michael schimpelsberger
teknik direktör: michel preud'homme (bel)
bremen: tim wiese (gk) (dk. 37 sebastian mielitz (gk)), petri pasanen, wesley, clemens fritz, aaron hunt, sebastian prödl, torsten frings (c), hugo almeida (dk. 59 marko arnautović), claudio pizarro, per mertesacker, philipp bargfrede (dk. 77 marko marin)
yedekler: mikaël silvestre, said husejinović, felix kroos, daniel jensen
teknik direktör: thomas schaaf (ger)
goller: dk. 75 theo janssen (1-0) dk. 80 marko arnautović (1-1)
sarı kartlar: dk. 45+1 wout brama, dk. 61 dwight tiendalli (twente) dk. 18 clemens fritz (bremen)
