Diego gives Werder a lifeline in Milan

Brazil midfielder Diego gave Werder Bremen a UEFA Cup lifeline with a late equaliser on Wednesday night to seal a 1-1 draw against AC Milan in the Round of 32 first-leg clash.

Many of the 36,000-strong crowd had come to see AC Milan’s England star David Beckham, on loan from LA Galaxy, while the Italian giants wrestle with the United States club for the services of the global superstar.

But Beckham spent the majority of the game on the bench and it was Bremen’s Brazilian who kept his side in the competition with an 84th-minute goal after he finally found the net after the home side squandered a huge amount of chances.

Bremen are struggling at tenth in the Bundesliga, while AC Milan are third in Serie A, but it was the Germans who took the game to the Italians.

Diego’s super strike mean Bremen go to Milan’s San Siro stadium on February 26 for the second-leg with a slim chance of progressing, but with 23 shots on goal – compared to Milan’s seven – Bremen should have won the game.

The Italian’s took the lead when Filippo Inzaghi’s initial header from a Mathieu Flamini cross was blocked, but the striker was on hand to put Milan ahead by pouncing left-footed on the rebound after just 32 minutes.

It was veteran Inzaghi’s 66th strike in UEFA club competition.

It looked like Milan had secured a precious away win until Diego rifled the ball into the back of the net after Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida won the ball in the air and the Brazilian pounced on 84 minutes.

With Galaxy and Milan tussling for Beckham, the ex-England captain played no more than a cameo role when he took over from Brazil’s Ronaldinho after 89 minutes.

It remains to be seen if he will be a confirmed Galaxy or Milan player by the time of the second leg next Thursday.