Bremen hit by injury crisis before final

Schaaf said Diego,Almeida and Mertesacker cannot be replaced on a one-to-one basis but he would still be able to field a strong team. Brazilian Diego,who has scored six UEFA Cup goals in Werder’s run to the final,has been heavily linked with a move to Juventus with German media reporting on Wednesday the deal was worth about 29 million euros.

Werder general manager Klaus Allofs said a transfer was still up in the air despite weeks of talks while Schaaf told reporters Diego had not yet played his last game for the club. “We still have an important league match against (Bundesliga leaders) Wolfsburg and then the German Cup final (against Bayer Leverkusen),” he said. “Diego will play a part in these games.”