No margin for error

The start of the new season has finally arrived! Werder’s 2026/27 competitive campaign gets underway on Saturday, 22nd August at 15:30 CEST, when the Green-Whites face Lüneburger SK Hansa at the Millerntor-Stadion in Hamburg in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. Five divisions separate Werder and their opponents from Lower Saxony, so there can be no doubt about the task facing Daniel Thioune’s side on Saturday.

Head coach Daniel Thioune’s thoughts: “A win would give us something positive to build on. We’ve prepared very thoroughly and made sure we know everything there is to know about Lüneburg. We’ve watched two of their games in full and gone through all the details. We don’t want any surprises and we certainly don’t want what is their game of the year to turn into the nightmare of the year for us. That can’t happen. Ultimately, the important thing is to get through to the next round. We know what’s expected of us. We’ll have 20,000 Bremen fans behind us and they’ll make plenty of noise. With all due respect, we’re a Bundesliga side facing a fifth-tier team. I expect us to produce the kind of performance that takes us through to the second round.”

Team news: Daniel Thioune will be without first-choice goalkeeper Karl Hein for his side’s first competitive game of the season. New signing Niclas Füllkrug is available straight away, while Eren Dinkci, who also returned to Werder this week, misses out with muscle problems. Felix Agu (calf muscle injury) and Oskar Wójcik (muscle problems) are also unavailable, while the game comes too soon for Dariusz Stalmach, Niklas Stark and Mitchell Weiser. Keke Topp remains in rehab following his cruciate ligament tear.

Biggest game in club history: LSK are making their third appearance in the first round of the DFB-Pokal since being re-formed in 2008, having previously faced VfB Stuttgart in 2008 (5-0 loss) and 1. FSV Mainz 05 in 2017 (3-1 loss). Even so, the Lüneburg management are describing Saturday’s match as the biggest in their history. That is no doubt partly because LSK are staging their cup showpiece against Werder at St. Pauli’s Millerntor-Stadion, where around 30,000 fans are expected. By comparison, LSK Hansa faced Mainz 05 at the Sülzwiesen in Lüneburg in front of around 4,000 supporters in 2017.

“It’s not easy to prepare the team for a crowd like this. In truth, you can’t really prepare for it because none of us, including the coaching staff, has ever experienced an atmosphere like this before,” said LSK coach Tarek Gibbah. Many of the players who were involved in the club’s last DFB-Pokal appearance in 2017 are no longer in the squad. Captain Marian Kunze was there against Mainz, though, and admits with a smile that the Werder game will be the biggest of his career too: “Back then, I overslept during the week leading up to the cup game and ended up on the bench. That was frustrating. The fact I get another chance nine years later, this time against Werder, makes me incredibly proud.”

A new experience for LSK: It won’t just be the size of the crowd that is unfamiliar territory for LSK. The pitch will be too. While Werder have already played at Millerntor-Stadion twice in 2026, in a friendly in January and in the Bundesliga in February, Saturday will be Lüneburg’s first ever game on FC St. Pauli’s pitch. The nominal hosts have not been able to hold a training session at the stadium either. As a result, the traditional home advantage amateur sides often enjoy in the first round of the cup is unlikely to be much of a factor.

Match officials: Fabienne Michel will referee Werder’s game at Millerntor-Stadion. The official from Rhineland-Palatinate will be assisted by Nikolai Kimmeyer and Philipp Hofheinz, with Niclas Rose serving as fourth official. There is no VAR in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. It will be used from the second round onwards this season.