Mitchell Weiser was back in the starting eleven against Bayern

Mitchell Weiser never fails to come into training with a smile. The time spent working individually is over; he has been training with the rest of the team for the past two weeks. “I am getting fitter but it’s only through playing matches that I can get back to full fitness,” explained Weiser, who did not manage to play in any pre-season friendlies. “Even if you give everything in training, you cannot simulate the pace of a match. I will need another one or two games before I’m 100 percent fit again and have the confidence to properly get stuck in.”

The wing-back is slowly being reintroduced to the team. First with a short cameo in Cologne, then from the first whistle against Bayern. Weiser always wants to compete with the best and so the game against the Bundesliga title-holders suited him well. “We had to improve after the cup game and I think that we played well for long periods against Bayern, despite the 4-0 loss,” summed up Werder’s number 8. “But, of course, we need to push on.”

His attention is already on the next game. SC Freiburg made a very good first impression in their 2-1 victory over Hoffenheim, which they will look to build upon in front of their home crowd. There’s a reason SC have developed into European competitiors in recent years: “They are very well drilled, they work hard and everybody sticks to their role – that makes it difficult to play against them”, explained Weiser. “We have to be competitive in every phase of the game and stick to our plan – our squad is good enough to pick up plenty of points in the Bundesliga.”