Stuttgart 6-3 Werder Bremen

Mar 9 2008 Gavin Berry At Gottlieb Daimler Stadium

STUTTGART piled on the misery for Werder Bremen's shattered cock-up 'keeper Tim Wiese as they fired six goals past the Ibrox fall guy to all but blow away the visitors' Bundesliga title hopes.

And now the German side will have to stage a comeback against Rangers on Thursday to save their season after this defeat left them trailing league leaders Bayern Munich by seven points.

It turned into the week from hell for Bremen's knackered stars as they went down 6-3 after just one day of rest following their Gers defeat.

Per Mertesacker's late red card at the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium added insult to injury and their only realistic chance of silverware now is the UEFA Cup which suggests Walter Smith's men will face a wounded animal at the Weser Stadium.

Yet it looked good for Bremen when Hugo Almeida gave them an early lead but Mario Gomez hit a double to give the home side a 2-1 half time advantage.

Sebastian Boensich pulled one back to level before Gomez completed his hat-trick then set up Cacau for a fourth.

Markus Rosenberg's goal wasn't enough to stop Bremen slumping to defeat and Mertesacker's late own goal made it five before Cacau notched his second.

The one advantage of their ridiculous schedule is that Bremen now have five days to focus entirely on the Light Blues.

Suttgart suffered defeat at Ibrox in Champions League action this season and their position of ninth in the table proves the reigning Bundesliga champions are a shadow of the side they were last term.

Almeida was one of four changes to the starting line-up at Ibrox and justified his place with the opener in eight minutes.

Rosenberg was the creator with a great run and cross for the Portuguese who was left totally unmarked to power his header beyond the helpless keeper.

But the lead lasted just 11 minutes as the home side got back on level terms with Ciprian Marica's defence-splitting pass sending Gomez clear and he rounded Wiese before slotting home from an angle.

Wiese was soon beaten again as that man Gomez - who scored in Stuttgart's defeat at Ibrox - bagged his second.

The goal came from a quick counter as Yildiray Basturk ran from his own half with Bremen defenders caught upfield and the Turk crossed for Gomez to fire home.

Bremen didn't give up and on the hour levelled through Boenisch's right foot shot but the home side hit a quickfire double to leave them down and out.

Sub Cacau crossed for Gomez to tap in before the pair combined in reverse to add a fourth and kill the game off.

Rosenberg's strike gave Bremen hope but it got worse as Mertesacker fired into his own net, Cacau hit his second and Mertesacker saw red for a foul on Gomez.