Werder outpunch Real Madrid to keep hopes alive

Werder Bremen clung on for a 3-2 win over Real Madrid on Wednesday to keep their Champions League hopes alive and leave the Spanish side with work still to do to make the last 16.

Bremen grabbed the lead in the fifth minute of the Group C match with a close-range strike from Markus Rosenberg before Robinho levelled with a cracking shot nine minutes later.

Fine goals from Boubacar Sanogo and Aaron Hunt either side of the break put Werder clear but a Ruud van Nistelrooy strike with 20 minutes to go made it a nervous finale.

Real are still well placed with eight points from five games but they will have to avoid defeat in their final match at home to Lazio on Dec. 11.

Werder have six points in third place and can still get through with an away match to come against Olympiakos.

"We missed a chance to secure our place but we still have a match to come at the Bernabeu and we're not scared of anyone," Real's German coach Bernd Schuster told reporters.

"Really we're not in such a bad position."

It was a familiar story for Real, whose record now reads just one win from 22 European games in Germany.

Schuster had talked before the game about German mentality often proving more than a match for Spanish skill and so it proved once again.

Werder, missing goalkeeper Tim Wiese, midfielders Tim Borowski and Torsten Frings and Brazilian playmaker Diego, put those troubles behind them, and warmed up a freezing Weserstadion with their early goal.

Real's defence failed to deal with a high and hopeful cross from the right, leaving Rosenberg unmarked to tap in.

Robinho, played in beautifully on goal by Raul, missed the chance to equalise when he was dispossessed by Naldo. Unforgivably, the German defence then gave the ball straight back and watched as Robinho scored with a much more difficult chance from out wide on the left.

Real failed to make the most of their control for the remainder of the half and they paid the price when Rosenberg set up Werder's second, surging clear down the right and crossing for Sanogo to volley past Iker Casillas.

Werder's third goal came in the 58th minute. Hunt beat the offside with a well timed run and dinked the ball past Casillas for Werder's clinching third.

Real, who have made a habit of great comebacks lately, were right back in the game when Van Nistelrooy chipped in from out on the right but Werder held out for a deserved win.

"We're really proud of this win," said Werder coach Thomas Schaaf. "We were missing so many players and had to bring in so many replacements yet we looked like we'd been playing together all season."