Werder Bremen host Lyon on Wednesday February 23rd, 2005 in the Weser Stadium.  The first-leg match will be televised in Canada on TSN at 12:00am (EST). 

Both teams are doing well in their respective domestic leagues, with Lyon at the top of the table in the French Ligue 1 and Werder in third place in the Bundesliga.  Both teams will be looking to secure a position in the quarter finals of the Champions League. 

The last time the two teams met was in the UEFA Cup in 1999.  Lyon won the third round first-leg match in France 3-0, only to then lose in Bremen 4-0. 

Paul Stalteri has 6 appearances in the Champions League group phase and is looking forward to making an appearance in the knockout phase of the tournament.  "We will have to do everything we can to win this first leg match because Lyon is very strong at home.  This is a tough match for us and we need to put in a top performance.  Lyon plays very good football and has a lot of international experience." says Paul Stalteri.

Lyon coach Paul Le Guen will be without three players on Wednesday evening.  Defender Claudio Cacapa, striker Brian Bergougnoux, and defender Anthony Reveillere did not travel to Bremen due to injury.

Coach Thomas Schaaf will be without Frank Baumann due to a one game suspension.  He has chosen the following 18 man squad for the match: Reinke, Pasanen, Ernst, Davala, Stalteri, Micoud, Klose, Hunt, Klasnic, Jensen, Zidan, Banecki, Magnin, Borowski, Ismael, Schulz, Walke, Valdez.  

Visit Paul Stalteri's UEFA Champions League Player Profile