Bremen's Claudio Pizarro to miss match at former team Bayern Munich

Werder Bremen striker Claudio Pizarro will miss Saturday's Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich because of a groin injury.

Werder said on Friday that Pizarro will not travel to Munich to face his former team after getting injured in training. The 37-year-old Peru striker's nine goals in his last eight matches have helped Werder escape from the relegation zone. He is one short of tying Marco Bode's club record of 101 goals for Werder.

"It's a bitter piece of news," Bremen coach Viktor Skripnik said. "For one thing, he was looking forward to his return to Munich and we are also missing an important player in this difficult match."

Speaking before it became known that Pizarro will miss the match, Bayern coach Pep Guardiola described him as a "top, top player in the penalty box."

Pizarro spent two successful stints at Bayern, scoring 87 goals and winning the Bundesliga title six times, the German Cup five times and the Champions League.

His contract expired last year and he returned to Werder, his first Bundesliga club, for his third spell there.

Pizarro has the most matches, 405, and the most goals, 187, for a foreigner in the Bundesliga.

Werder will be missing three other players in Munich. Forward Fin Bartels is down with the flu, while captain Clemens Fritz and midfielder Zlatko Junuzovic are suspended.

The two were fined for intentionally picking up yellow cards so they would be suspended for Saturday's match.

The German federation sports tribunal fined both men €20,000 for unsportsmanlike behaviour, following a hearing on Friday.

Werder are fighting against relegation and need points against lower-ranked opposition, while they have slim hopes against Munich no matter what kind of a lineup they field.

Fritz and Junuzovic conceded in interviews after last week's 4-1 win over Hannover that they were aiming to be suspended for the match in Munich so that they could be available for later games.

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