Panathinaikos´ Ivanschitz ruled out of Bremen clash

Greek side Panathinaikos will be without injury victim Andreas Ivanschitz for Tuesday night's Champions League basement battle in Group B against Werder Bremen.

Both sides still need to claim their first win of the competition and Austrian international Ivanschitz has been diagnosed with tendonitis in his left thigh, so the attacking midfielder will miss the game here.

The Greek side must win if they are to move off the bottom of the group and under Dutch coach Henk Ten Cate, Panathinaikos have picked up just one point from their three games so far.

It came in the draw with Bremen in Athens a fortnight ago when the Greek Cup holders were 2-1 up in the dying stages before Hugo Almeida's late equaliser shared the points.

With Inter Milan leading Group B, Bremen and Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta are battling for second place with Famagusta second on four points and Bremen on three having drawn all of their games so far.

On Saturday, Bremen picked up their first win in the Bundesliga since late September when they hammered UEFA Cup side Hertha Berlin 5-1 at home to move Thomas Schaaf's side up to seventh and give them a much needed confidence boost.

He said: “It was just a win, nothing more!

“We have no reason to start thinking about anything else.

“The whole team played better, every individual. We started the game well and did a lot of things correctly.

“Our finishing was better and so was our tackling. It can continue like that.”

Ten-man Panathinaikos picked up a much-needed win themselves when they won 2-1 at Panionios on Saturday, despite having South African winger Bryce Moon sent off, which leaves them fourth in the Greek Super League.

But after his side's defeat to Serie A champions Inter Milan earlier in the competition and his side's embarrassing collapse in Cyprus when they slumped 3-1 to Famagusta at the start of October, Ten Cate has come under pressure.

The Greeks have struggled in defence and especially against Bremen, where Almeida effectively ended the Greeks' campaign thanks to a complete absence of man-marking.

But Bremen have also shipped their fair share of goals this season and both side will be desperate to score with just two games left to get points after Tuesday night.