Zlatko Junuzovic remembers exactly what was said a little more than two months ago. Werder sat 16th in the table and had a meagre 16 points to their name. “A lot of people thought at the time that we were down, that we would be relegated,” said Junuzovic looking back. You can tell by the way the vice-captain speaks that he takes an enormous amount of satisfaction from the fact that things turned out differently to what so many expected.
Eleven consecutive matches without defeat have meant Junuzovic and his teammates have lifted themselves up to sixth in the Bundesliga table. Since matchday 21, the Green-Whites have won nine and drawn two of their eleven games. “Going on such a good run in the Bundesliga doesn’t happen by accident, it’s the result of hard work and good preparation over the last weeks and months,” said the 29-year-old. He also spoke about, “the quality in the squad and the 100% belief in the team,” which is of course an important factor.
At the beginning of the year Werder gave some valiant performances against Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund, but didn’t get the points their efforts deserved. “It didn’t matter how well we were playing because we weren’t picking up points. Being a professional footballer is never unless you win,” said Junuzovic.
Under the guidance of head coach Alexander Nouri, the team has experience a turnaround in fortunes. “We’re extremely happy that we managed to overcome a difficult mental test and now aren’t involved in the relegation scrap,” said Junuzovic. On the contrary, just two months later, there is a real possibility of Werder qualifying for Europe. “We’ve created a whole new situation for ourselves. We can be very proud of that. No one would have thought this would be the case six or seven weeks ago.” Back then people were saying very different things about Werder.
