Bremen success thrills Schaaf

Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf was delighted after his side kept their hopes of qualifying from UEFA Champions League Group A very much alive with a hard-fought victory against Chelsea FC. Per Mertesacker's 27th-minute winner ensured that the German club can reach for the last 16 by avoiding defeat away to FC Barcelona on Matchday 6. Chelsea are now assured of qualification despite the defeat, though their manager José Mourinho believed they were worth a point.

Thomas Schaaf, Bremen coach
We have set ourselves terribly high goals in this group and up until now we have fulfilled them. Now it is just a matter of completing the job. The team have shown great class on the pitch tonight. We were aggressive, we stood firm at the back and my players also combined well offensively. After the goal we set back a little bit, but we didn't allow Chelsea to have too many opportunities. Our aim was to try to challenge Chelsea, an exceptional team, and tonight we carried out the gameplan superbly.

José Mourinho, Chelsea manager
We knew that Bremen were a strong team but the match was pretty open and we deserved a draw. It was a pity that Didier Drogba injured his ankle because I wanted him, Andriy Shevchenko and Arjen Robben to play together at the end to increase the pressure on Bremen. Drogba couldn't carry on, but it isn't a serious injury and he should be able to play [against Manchester United FC] on Sunday. Now we want to win our last game against [PFC] Levski Sofia and finish as group winners.

Torsten Frings, Bremen midfielder
We settled into the game very well and put pressure on Chelsea right from the start. It was important for us to score the opening goal. Once we had done that Chelsea were not particularly dangerous. We expected to come under pressure at the end and that was the case, but we also had chances to score a second goal on the break and overall we performed well.

Michael Ballack, Chelsea midfielder
We did not produce our best performance tonight, but all in all it was an even game. At the start we were too passive. We didn't want to take any unnecessary risks but unfortunately we conceded from a free-kick and that left us chasing the game. We knew that Bremen are good at counterattacking so we were in a difficult situation and in the end we didn't do enough to score.