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Werder Bremen won an incredible match at local rivals Hamburg 3-2 to go through to the UEFA Cup final on away goals.

Bremen had trailed 1-0 from the first leg and went 2-0 down on aggregate when Ivica Olic put them ahead on 12 minutes.

But goals from Diego (pictured), Claudio Pizarro and Frank Baumann put the visitors 3-1 up on the night and 3-2 ahead overall.

A late second by Olic meant Bremen suffered a nervy finish, but they held on to set up a final clash with Shakhtar Donetsk, who beat Ukrainian rivals Dynamo Kiev in the other.

There was a heavy dose of controversy about the result as Baumann's strike - which proved to be the winning goal - was scored from a corner that came after Hamburg's Danish defender Michael Gravagaard mis-kicked the ball thanks to a heavy deflection off what appeared to be a lump of rolled-up toilet paper that a fan threw on to the pitch.

Bremen will also be without two players in the final as Brazilian playmaker Diego - who was one of the stand-out players in the match - and Portuguese forward Hugo Almeida picked up needless bookings for confrontations with Alex Silva and Collin Benjamin respectively.

Hamburg led 1-0 from the away leg but Bremen had a great chance to open the scoring and level when Pizarro headed over from close range under pressure from Dutch defender Joris Mathijsen, who appeared to tug him in the process.

Almost immediately, Mathijsen slid Olic through and the Croatian slotted the ball past Frank Rost to give the hosts a one-goal lead on the night, 2-0 on aggregate.

Martin Jol's side seemed to be cruising and ran the game for the next quarter of an hour but, on 29 minutes, Diego played a delightful one-two with Pizarro before lofting the ball over Tim Wiese and bringing the visitors one goal away from a win.

Bremen sensed blood and went full-gun for a second, allowing Hamburg space to counter and create chances of their own.

Diego unleashed a rasping drive that Rost tipped on to the bar while, early in the second half, on-loan Chelsea striker Pizarro had a goal disallowed for a marginal offside.

Wiese then earned his coin with a great save from Piotr Trochowski after Jonathan Pitroipa went agonisingly close to converting Marcell Jansen's cross.

On 66 minutes Pizarro got the goal that matched his work-rate when an ambitious long-range effort was misjudged by Rost and squirmed into the net.

That put the visitors in the driving seat and led Hamburg to push men forward as they tried to find a winning goal.

With a quarter of an hour remaining Wiese made another good save, this time from Alex Silva, and as Hamburg over-committed the visitors won a corner, thanks in great part to a supporter's stupidity.

Almeida flicked the ball on, Rost made a superb save and skipper Baumann bravely stooped at the far post to nod it into the back of the net and leave Hamburg needing two goals in eight minutes.

It was not over though as, with three minutes remaining, Olic dived to head the ball into the ground and top-right corner after Clemens Fritz hesitated.

The goal set up a grandstand finish during which the home side threw everything forward - including keeper Rost - but Bremen held on for a famous win that gives team boss and one-club man Thomas Schaaf his first appearance in a European final after 10 years of managing the senior side.

Reda Maher / Eurosport