23 October 2010 - Pizarro Conquers A Bundesliga Record

On 23 October 2010, Peruvian forward Claudio Pizarro became the Bundesliga's all-time leading foreign goalscorer with a strike against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Pizarro moved to the Bundesliga in 1999 with Werder Bremen, then moved to Bayern Munich in 2001. Between the two, he scored 100 league goals before moving to Chelsea in 2007. His time in London was brief, however, as he returned to Werder Bremen on loan in 2008, then on a permanent transfer in 2009.

His second spell in Bremen started successfully, with the club winning the DFB-Pokal and reaching the UEFA Cup final in 2009, then finishing third in the league in 2010. But they struggled at the start of the 2010-11 season, winning only three of their first eight matches when they traveled to Mönchengladbach. At the time, Pizarro was tied with his former Bayern teammate Élber Giovane as the league's record foreign goalscorers with 133 each.

The match was no contest. After only 12 minutes, the visitors were up 0-2 with goals from Marko Marin (5') and Wesley (12'), then Aaron Hunt stretched the lead to 0-3 in the 51st minute. The hosts got a slight lift when Werder center back Per Mertesacker put the ball into his own net in the 67th minute, but Pizarro restored the margin with his record-setting strike in the 75th minute. It was a rare bright spot in the season for Werder, who finished in 13th place.

Pizarro still plays for Werder Bremen and has since added to his total--he now has a current tally of 145 Bundesliga goals.

27 January 1949 - The Peerless Per Røntved

On 27 January 1949, Werder Bremen captain and Danish Player of the Year Per Røntved was born in Frederiksberg.

Røntved started his professional career as a left winger for Second Division Danish side Brønshøj Boldklub in 1967, but soon switched positions to defense, helping guide the team to promotion at the end of his second season.

He earned his first cap with the Danish senior side in 1970 and captained the side during the 1972 Olympics. The highlight of that campaign was a 3-2 victory over Brazil in the first round, with Røntved scoring in the 50th minute to put the Danes up 2-0. The Brazilians rallied to draw level with goals in the 68th and 69th minutes before an 83rd minute Danish score put Røntved's side ahead for good. That performance led to Røntved winning the 1972 Danish Player of the Year Award.

After the Olympics, Røntved moved to Werder Bremen. He spent the majority of his career there, making 194 league appearances between 1972 and 1979. Although he joined them as a midfielder, he switched positions once more, filling in at sweeper. His new coach, Otto Rehhagel, claimed that Røntved was the second-best sweeper in the world at the time, behind only fellow Bundesliga star Franz Beckenbauer.

In June 1979, Røntved, then 30 years old, moved back to the Danish Second Division with Randers Freja. After three and a half seasons, he rejoined the top flight with Hvidovre IF, then retired in 1983.

He continued to play internationally until 1982 and, in his last appearance, became the first player to make 75 appearances for the Danish national team.

6 August 2004 - The Night The Lights Went Out In Bremen

On 6 August 2004, defending Bundesliga champions Werder Bremen opened the new season with a 1-0 win over Schalke 04, thanks to the latest goal ever scored in the German top flight.

Werder Bremen entered the match full of optimism, having won the double the previous season, claiming their first league title since 1993 (their fourth overall) and their first German Cup since 1999 (sixth overall). They had also won the corresponding fixture against Schalke that year, 4-1. But in the opener for the new season, the defenses dominated as both teams struggled to shows any signs of life on offense.

Playing in an evening fixture, the flow of the match was interrupted when the lights at Werder's Weserstadion went on, forcing a lengthy delay for repairs. As the match restarted late in the evening, Werder Bremen manager Thomas Schaaf replaced his star forward Miroslav Klose with Paraguayan striker Nelson Valdes in the 73rd minute. Ten minutes later, Valdes (pictured) justified the switch by scoring the match-winning goal.

Because of the delay, Valdes scored his winning strike at 23:13 - the latest goal ever scored in the German top flight. Despite the dramatic start to the season, Werder Bremen were unable to replicate their success from the previous season, finishing the 2004-05 season in third place.

12 March 2009 - The Ukraine Is Not Weak!

On 12 March 2009, Dynamo Kyiv and Metalist Kharkiv became the first Ukranian sides to meet in a UEFA competition. Their historic meeting came in the Round of 16 of that season's UEFA Cup.

One of the most successful clubs in Ukraine, Kyiv entered the competition with an established European pedigree, having previously participated in numerous Champions League/European Cup and UEFA Cup matches, as well as winning the 1975 and 1986 UEFA Cup Winners' Cups and the 1975 UEFA Super Cup. They had qualified for the 2008-09 Champions League, but their third-place finish in that competition's group stage sent them into the UEFA Cup Round of 32. There, they advanced over Valencia on away goals to set up the meeting with Metalist in the Round of 16.

Metalist, on the other hand, was a relative novice. The 2008-09 UEFA Cup was only their second time in European competition, with the first being the previous season's UEFA Cup (where they were eliminated in the first round by Everton). They got off to a much stronger start in 2009-10, opening their campaign with a 4-2 aggregate win over Besitkas to advance to the group stage. There, they finished at the top of their group, over more experienced European sides Galatasaray, Olympiacos, Hertha Berlin, and Benfica, then rolled over Sampdoria 3-0 in the Round of 32.

The Round of 16 match-up was held in Kiev, where the home side staked their claim with a 1-0 win thanks to a 54th-minute header from midfielder Ognjen Vukojevic (pictured). Metalist battled back to win the second leg 3-2, but Kyiv again advanced thanks to their two away goals.

Kyiv advanced all the way to the semifinals where they ran into yet another Ukrainian side, Shakhtar Donetsk who beat Kyiv 3-2 on aggregate and went on to win the title with a 2-1 win over Werder Bremen.

4 February 1899 - Rollin' On The River

On 4 February 1899, a group of 16 vocational school students in the northwestern German city of Bremen used some sports equipment they won as a prize to found the club that would later be known as Werder Bremen. The club would go on to become one of Germany's most successful and influential clubs.

Originally named Fußballverein Werder, using a German word meaning "river peninsula" to reflect the riverside pitch that was their first home, the club played its first match on 10 September 1899, a 1-0 win over local rivals ASC 1898 Bremen. They acheived their first significant successes under the Third Reich, winning division titles in 1934, 1936, 1937, and 1942.

They enjoyed intermittent success in the post-war years, winning the German Cup in 1961 and the league title in 1965. After a subsequent decline, including relegation for the 1980-81 season, the club returned to glory in the late '80s and early '90s, winning the Bundesliga title in 1988 and 1993, the German Cup in 1991, and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1992. They most recently won the league in 2004 and the German Cup in 2009.

In addition to their successes on the pitch, Werder has helped transform the nature of the game (for better or worse) from amateur to professional, including being the first club to charge for admission and the first to hire a professional manager.

24 August 1963 - A Quick Start For A New League

On 24 August 1963, Borussia Dortmund striker Friedhelm "Tino" Konietzka (pictured) scored the Bundesliga's first goal when he found the net in the first minute of Dortmund's season-opening match against Werder Bremen.

The 1963-64 season was the first season of the Bundesliga, which had been established the previous summer. Dortmund qualified for the new 16-team league as one of five clubs from the previous regional Oberliga West, while Werder qualified as one of three teams from the Oberliga Nord.

In that opening match, Konietzka added a second goal in the 90th minute, but Werder scored three in the interim to claim a 3-2 win. Dortmund were more successful on the season, however, finishing in fourth place while Werder ended up in the 10th position.