One of the most exciting years in the Green-Whites’ history is almost over. This time last year, it would have been ridiculous to dream of a return to the Bundesliga – but 365 days later, SV Werder finds itself in a secure mid-table position in the top flight. We wanted to provide a detailed review, month by month, of our unforgettable year. Here is part two: back in the Bundesliga once more.
“It’s a new league for me too,” Ole Werner told the press before his first Bundesliga pre-season training session. The break was unusually short, but there was excitement in the air that was palpable throughout the Osterdeich. After a year away, and an even longer time playing under COVID conditions, there was finally once more to be Bundesliga football at the wohninvest WESERSTADION.
The Werder first team arrived at the training ground on 22nd June with smiles on their places, ready to fulfil fans wishes to get some autographs from their heroes. There were particularly warm welcomes for new arrivals Niklas Stark, Amos Pieper and Dikeni Salifou. Werner’s side spent a week-and-a-half at a training camp in Zillertal from 30th June to 10th July, where Oliver Burke, Jens Stage and Lee Buchanan also trained with their new teammates for the first time.
This was the first opportunity for the coaching staff to complete a full summer preseason with their squad. Furthermore, questions of personnel were already long resolved, as they had been the previous season. The anticipation for the start of the Bundesliga remained high throughout. Finally, on 1st August, the Green-Whites cruised through the first round of the Pokal against FC Energie Cottbus (2-1), with goals from Romano Schmid and Mitchell Weiser. The latter was a new permanent arrival, having played on loan from Bayer Leverkusen the previous campaign.
The full-back went onto have a terrific 2023-23 season up until the winter break, assisting seven goals, recording the most direct goal involvements for a defender in Europe’s top five leagues. But Werder proved as a unit right away that they were able to attack – firstly with a 2-2 draw away at VfL Wolfsburg, before playing to the same scoreline in the first Bundesliga home game against VfB Stuttgart.
A game that won’t be forgotten for a long while is the away victory against Borussia Dortmund. As Raphael Guerreiro put Dortmund 2-0 up, it looked like while having performed well, Werder would be going home empty handed. Indeed, Lee Buchanan’s first Bundesliga goal looked like it was too little, too late as he made it 2-1 in the 89th minute. Incredibly, Niklas Schmidt headed home from nine yards just four minutes later, as it looked like Werder had rescued a point – but in the fifth and final minute of added time, Oliver Burke got the ball from Weiser in behind, and fired home one-on-one to grab all three points in a 3-2 victory.
This incredible victory was not only important for Werder’s position in the table, but it was also important mentally, as the players got the self-belief that they could comeback from any losing position. Following the win over Dortmund, Werder fell to a 4-3 defeat to Eintracht, before beating VfL Bochum 2-0 at the start of September. They then suffered a disappointing 1-0 loss at the hands of FC Augsburg, before drawing 1-1 away at Leverkusen. The best, however, was yet to come. To kick-off October, the Green-Whites got their first home win in a 5-1 demolition of Borussia Mönchengladbach. Werner’s side made a flying start to this game and found themselves 4-0 up at the break. They then backed up the victory with a 2-1 win away at Hoffenheim the following week.
Werder then had to ride out a difficult period in the middle of October after they suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to Mainz followed by a defeat on penalties to SC Paderborn in the DFB-Pokal. They then lost 2-0 to SC Freiburg on 22nd October in a game in which Marco Friedl was shown a red card in the 14th minute. However, the players once again proved their resilience on the next two matchdays with home wins over Hertha (1-0) and Schalke (2-1).
Niclas Füllkrug, who had fired himself to the top of the Bundesliga goalscoring charts with ten goals, was turning heads with his impressive performances and he would end his first half of the season with a dream piece of news when he was nominated for the Germany national team by head coach Hansi Flick. The striker scored three goals in his first four games for Germany, including two at the World Cup. Despite Fülle’s heroics, Flick’s side failed to progress out of their group. Milos Veljkovic also featured for Serbia at the World Cup but his national side were also knocked out at the group stage.Füllkrug and Veljkovic will rejoin their teammates in the new year as attention now turns to the return of the Bundesliga. Werder are back in action on 21st January against FC Köln and they will be looking to bounce back from their defeats to Bayern (6-1) and Leipzig (2-1) in their final two league games before the winter break. The players and the coaching staff are working hard behind the scenes to make sure that 2023 is as unforgettable as 2022.
![[Translate to Englisch:] Die Mannschaft beim gemeinsamen Jubel.](https://werdercdn.azureedge.net/typo3temp/assets/_processed_/3/7/csm_9e2353210ae29b2d88795a91a6c3aaf28ff1c07e-fp-1000-600-9-57_9cdfffbaaf.jpg)
