Werder chief executive Thomas Eichin was proven right in his claim that the other teams in the relegation battle would secure points this weekend. But the good news came in from the south, more than 600 kilometres away from Bremen, where VfB Stuttgart lost their home game to Borussia Dortmund. The Baden-Württemberg club, just two points ahead of Bremen in the table, are the Green-Whites’ next guests at the Weser-Stadion.
Prior to the Saturday games, after a short and undoubtedly restless sleep, the players came in for physical treatment after a painful defeat against Hamburger SV. “I’m just disappointed because we lost the game that we never want to lose: the derby,” revealed Zlatko Junuzovic, while Claudio Pizarro still rued his missed penalty against Jaroslav Drobny: “He has experience and delayed his reaction for a long time and I just didn’t strike the ball cleanly,” admitted Werder’s record goalscorer. “It’s very unfortunate that this happened to me during the derby, when we desperately needed the points,” the Peruvian continued. “Penalties can be missed sometimes. We still managed to score our goal eight minutes later and continued to push forward,” said Junuzovic.
“Even if this isn’t very easy to digest, the day after tomorrow it will be in the past and we’ll have to look ahead,” said Pizarro, directing his focus on the upcoming tasks. “Everything is still in our own hands,” proclaimed the striker. Despite the clear criticism the players faced after the final whistle, there were also positive aspects from their game against HSV, as they completely dominated their opponents in the second half. “We have to get it into our heads that we started to play football after half time and had the chance to turn the game on its head,” recalled Fin Bartels.
Junuzovic outlined the plan for the next few days: “The important thing will be to use our time well after this high-intensity week and get back into the best shape possible.” At the same time, courage needs to be rebuilt. “We have to get through this, be ready mentally and believe in ourselves that we can make it. And that’s what we’ll do!”
We'll work with sheer passion and heart in order to turn our season aroundFin Bartels
Junuzovic outlined the plan for the next few days: “The important thing will be to use our time well after this high-intensity week and get back into the best shape possible.” At the same time, courage needs to be rebuilt. “We have to get through this, be ready mentally and believe in ourselves that we can make it. And that’s what we’ll do!”
Bremen will still have the entire week to prepare for the game with Stuttgart, which is scheduled for an unprecedented Monday night kick-off. Werder just need to make up two points on VfB in order to claim a spot outside the relegation zone. “Our fans will push us forward and we will give everything we’ve got out there on the pitch, working with sheer passion and heart in order to turn our season around,” promised Bartels. It will be the first of “three finals”, as Claudio Pizarro labelled the remaining games of the season.
