Football / European Round-Up: Wonder Bremen

WERDER BREMEN staged the finest comeback in the short history of the European Champions' League last night, when they beat Anderlecht 5-3 after trailing 3-0 with only 24 minutes to play, writes Rupert Metcalf.

With their hopes of advancing from Group B looking lost, the Germans suddenly found their touch. They scored five goals in a frantic finale to complete a remarkable recovery. The New Zealander, Wynton Rufer, scored in the 66th and 89th minutes and there was a goal each for the Norwegian, Rune Bratseth (72), Bernd Hobsch (81) and Marco Bode (83).

The Belgians had seized what looked like a decisive advantage with one goal from Philippe Albert and two from Danny Boffin before half-time. Milan, who beat Porto last week, lead the group with three points, followed by Werder and Porto with two and Anderlecht with one.

In Group A, almost 90,000 fans at the Nou Camp stadium watched Barcelona beat Monaco 2-0 and replaced the Frenchmen at the top of the table.

The win, secured by two first-half goals from Aitor Beguiristain, keeps the Catalans, the 1992 European champions, on course for the semi- final stage.

In the other match in the group, the conquerors of Manchester United, Galatasaray, gained their third successive 0-0 draw in the competition in an ill-tempered match at Spartak Moscow.

Three players were sent off: Spartak's Ramiz Mamedov and Viktor Onopko, their captain, and Galatasaray's German defender, Reinhardt Stumpf.

Barcelona lead the group with three points from their two matches, followed by Monaco and Galatasaray with two and Spartak Moscow on one.