Udinese crashed out of the UEFA Cup when they could only manage a 3-3 draw at home to Werder Bremen.  The guests arrived in Italy looking to protect a 3-1 lead from the first leg but made life hard for themselves when they trailed by a similar score at half time.  They fought back brilliantly in the second half and though they missed a penalty between their second and third goals, they had done more than enough to secure their passage through to the semi finals.  They will face arch-rivals HSV in a north German derby and despite their struggles in the league they will still hope to salvage something from the campaign in the form of both the UEFA Cup and the DFB Pokal.  Udinese have nothing to look forward to now though and are effectively on their holidays until next season.

The hosts were without Coda and Ferronetti from the defence but they are used to that now and the back four which lined up was used to playing together.  Pasquale played on the left instead of Lukovic while the midfield had Isla available as an option after injury although he only started on the bench.  Floro Flores was given a start following his goals at the weekend but Sanchez picked up an early injury and had to be replaced by Pepe.  Werder travelled without Jensen who is out for the season but had a major boost as Diego was fit to play behind the front pair having missed out at the weekend.  The little Brazilian produced an inspired performance and scored the crucial goals to take his side into the semi final.

Chances were exchanged in the early moments but Udinese made a vital early breakthrough when Inler blasted home from Asamoah's assist. Felipe cleared off the line from Diego but the guests did level when an error from Zapata presented Diego with a chance which he didn't miss.  Quagliarella struck back almost immediately with a calm lob over Weisse and just moments later the international levelled the tie on aggregate when he converted smartly after killing the ball on his chest. Quagliarella grazed the post as he searched for his hat-trick after the break but it was Bremen who seized the initiative when Diego nodded home a rebound.  Diego passed up the chance of hat-trick of his own when he missed a penalty but Pizarro levelled the tie on the night and put the contest beyond doubt soon afterwards.  Udinese fought on and should probably have won the 90 minutes but failed to get the goal they deserved and exited with a whimper rather than a bang.

This was a big disappointment from Udinese who will feel they threw things away having originally done the hard bit.  They will have plenty of time to reflect on that but Werder produced the crucial goals when they were needed and on that basis deserved to go through.