No Werder fan would deny that the Green-Whites didn’t exactly put in their best performance of the season in the Volkswagen Arena on Friday night, but Alexander Nouri’s team once again revealed their fighting spirit – just like last week in Mainz, and once again, their efforts were rewarded, this time with a 2-1 victory in Wolfsburg on Bundesliga matchday 22.
After the game, WERDER.DE spoke with the relieved winners and gathered their thoughts.
Alexander Nouri: “We fought passionately against a strong opponent today. The boys fired each other up and showed good team spirit. Plus, we had luck on our side, which hasn’t always been the case for us this season. We scored two goals on the road and defended our own goal at all costs. We know we were somewhat fortunate today, but we also won’t be apologising for the victory.”
Robert Bauer: “We were under a lot of pressure right from the start. Even our two goals didn’t give us the respite we had hoped for. But we fought as a team until the end – with each other, and for one another. That was the key to our victory today. It was an ugly win and that’s what the relegation battle is all about. The feeling today is even better than in Mainz, because we won against a fellow relegation candidate.”
Max Kruse: “Wolfsburg controlled all areas of the game today, except the fighting aspect. We fought with passion today, showed infinite will-power and used our few chances clinically. Obviously we also had luck on our side in a few situations. But that’s the reward for hard work. We desperately wanted the three points and we got them.”
Zlatko Junuzovic: “We were the inferior team today and Wolfsburg’s individual quality caused us a lot of problems. We made quite a few mistakes in the first half and Wolfsburg had lots of chances. After the break we had a more compact shape but still allowed them too many opportunities. Towards the end we could’ve executed one of the counter attacks with more determination. But these are really important points for us and it was an extremely important victory from a psychological perspective. The relief we feel right now is difficult to put into words.”
Felix Wiedwald: “It was a fortunate victory; I think everyone will agree with that. Wolfsburg looked very dangerous and we had to put up a great fight. Scoring two early goals obviously put us in a great position in the game and we shouldn’t have conceded so quickly afterwards. After that we continued to allow Wolfsburg too many chances. It was important to set the pace on Friday evening and show our rivals that we once again secured three points.”
Zlatko Junuzovic: “First of all, I’m glad to have three points secured and looking forward to return home for two days and spend time with my family. The victory in Mainz already felt good, but this one calms our nerves even more, despite knowing that Wolfsburg were the better team. I hope that we can keep this momentum going and attack again next week.”
Felix Wiedwald: “We are still in the relegation battle and we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves after this win, simply because we were the weaker side. Getting through situations like this today as a team, certainly strengthens our bond. I hope that we can take it in our stride and then produce a good performance against Darmstadt.”
Max Kruse: “Next week will be an entirely different game. After having earned two hard-fought victories on the road, we look forward to playing some better football in front of our own fans.”
Alexander Nouri: “Wiedi made great saves again today. He contributed massively to this victory. I’m happy to see him in such good form currently.”
Zlatko Junuzovic: “I’m very happy that Felix is playing so well at the moment, but today we all fought together and earned ourselves the luck that came our way. In future though, it would be great if we can avoid allowing the opponent so many chances and thus give Felix less work.”
Felix Wiedwald: “I tried to give the team a feeling of assurance and I think that worked out quite well today.”
