MADRID, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Facing Werder Bremen of Germany in the UEFA Cup semifinal on Thursday, Spanish Espanyol coach Ernesto Valverde is urging his players to try and make history.

    Nineteen years ago when Espanyol were in their only previous appearance in the UEFA Cup final, the Barcelona side won the first leg 3-0 against another German team, Bayer Leverkusen, only to lose the return by the same score line and then endure the a penalty shoot-out defeat.

    Now, though, Valverde is determined to make amends. "It is a historic match," he said. "We desperately want to win it and to write our names in the history of the club."

    Espanyol were almost guilty of throwing away another three-goal lead in their quarter-final against Benfica. Strikes by Raul Tamudo, Albert Riera and Walter Pandiani of the first leg appearedto have made a place in the last four a certainty, but the Portuguese visitors replied with two quick goals. However, Espanyol held out for a goalless draw in the second leg and now face opponents of a similar calibre.

    "Werder Bremen are at the same level as Benfica but semi-final matches are always open and we are very confident we can go through," said the coach, who is without suspended defenders Pablo Zabaleta and Francisco Chica and forward Luis Garcia, who has claimed six UEFA Cup goals this term.

    However, Valverde can at least welcome back Tamudo, who was absent from the return in Lisbon. The Periquitos' inspirational captain struck a last-minute penalty on Sunday to salvage a 2-2 draw against Real Betis and, like the tournament's leading marksman Pandiani, has played a major role in this season's European adventure.

    Valverde pointed out that Bremen also have key players sidelined.

    "Pierre Wome, Ivan Klasnic and Per Mertesacker are big players. So is Tim Borowski," he said.

    Germany midfielder Borowski has suffered the recurrence of a long-term knee problem and is likely to be replaced by Daniel Jensen. The visitors have made light of injuries throughout the campaign and, unlike an Espanyol team positioned 10th in Spain, they are flying high in the Bundesliga. Jensen scored in the 3-1 victory against TSV Alemannia Aachen last Friday which left them second in the table.

    Although his charges crushed free-scoring AZ Alkmaar 4-1 in their quarter-final second leg, Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf refuses to accept the tag of favorites.

    "Espanyol are at home and they are in the UEFA Cup semi-finals because they deserve it. They beat Benfica over two legs because they were better than them. The whole side is dangerous, they can move from defense to attack very quickly and they're top scorers in the tournament. In fact, we are both attacking sides, which should make it an interesting match."

    Probable teams

    Espanyol: Gorka Iraizoz; Jesus Maria Lacruz, Marc Torrejon, Daniel Jarque, David Garcia; Francisco Rufete, Ivon de la Pena, Moises Hurtado, Albert Riera; Raul Tamudo, Walter Pandiani.

    Bremen: Tim Wiese; Clemens Fritz, Petri Pasanen, Naldo, PatrickOwomoyela; Torsten Frings, Frank Baumann, Daniel Jensen; Diego; Miroslav Klose, Aaron Hunt.