Adriano's double saves Vieri blushes as Inter beat 10-man Bremen

Inter Milan's Champions League began with a 2-0 victory over Group G rivals Werder Bremen at the San Siro here.

German champions Bremen had centre-back Valerien Ismael sent off early and Christian Vieri saw his penalty saved before Adriano broke the deadlock in the 34th minute.

The muscular Brazil international succeeded where his strike partner Vieri had failed, converting Inter's second penalty after he had been brought down in the penalty box for a second time.

Inter, European champions in 1964 and 1965, wrapped up the three points two minutes from time when Adriano finished a swift counter-attack with a venomous strike.

Bremen, whose last appearance in the Champions League was in the 1993/04 season, would have lost by a much bigger margin had their goalkeeper Andreas Reinke not been in such superb form.

Inter coach Roberto Mancini said his team would have to be more clinical in two week's time when they travel to Belgium to face Anderlecht.

"The sending-off certainly gave us a hand, but we created the chance in the first place and continued to create plenty of chances after that," he said.

"But football can be strange and sometimes when you don't kill off teams, you get punished. Next time we will have to be more clinical."

Mancini refused to blame Vieri for missing not only the penalty, but a hatful of other opportunities.

"He's having one of those moments that strikers have," said Mancini, a former striker himself. "He had a lot of chances and was a little unlucky."

Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf said it was always going to be an uphill struggle after Ismael's dismissal.

"After the sending-off it was very difficult, but I was very happy with the way the team reacted," he said.

"Inter deserved the win and always looked dangerous when Adriano was one-on-one - he is an incredibly strong player who is very difficult to mark and it's almost impossible to keep him quiet for a whole 90 minutes."

Mancini left the tough-tackling Edgar Davids and Brazilian wingback Jose Ze Maria on the bench and opted instead for Turkey international Emre Belozoglu and Dutch winger Andy van der Meyde in midfield.

The match exploded into life in the fifth minute when Isamael was sent for an early bath.

Adriano collected Emre's superb through-ball and went steaming towards goal, only for Ismael to haul back the livewire Brazilian just as he was about to shoot.

Slovakian referee Richard Havrilla showed a straight red card to the rash Frenchman, who trudged back to the dressing-room with his chin on his chest.

However, Inter were unable to profit from the penalty as Vieri's poor spot-kick was blocked by Reinke's sprawling legs.

Reinke's legs rescued the visitors again four minutes later, blocking Van der Meyde's powerful close-range drive.

Just as the Germans started to grow in confidence and put pressure on the Inter goal, Bremen gave away another penalty.

Once again Adriano was the victim, brought down by Bremen captain Frank Baumann.

After his earlier failure, Vieri decided to stand down and Adriano coolly stroked the ball into the corner as Reinke dived the wrong way.

Vieri almost atoned for his error in first-half stoppage-time, but Reinke's quick reflexes were equal to his left-footed shot.

Reinke denied Vieri again on the hour, blocking the Italy international's fierce angled shot and he then stopped Van Der Meyde's goalbound shot with a incredible one-handed save.

Johan Micoud's free-kick was tipped over the bar by Francesco Toldo as Bremen threw men forward. before Adriano settled Inter's nerves, drilling a low shot into the bottom corner with his explosive left foot.

Inter will face Anderlecht in Belgium in a fortnight, while Bremen will host Spanish champions Valencia.