“I just tried to focus on the game from the beginning,” said Gnabry. The player was bursting with excitement for the game in the first half and was looking to dribble the ball around the opposition players. Gnabry nearly got his first assist for Werder Bremen but Bartels blasted his great ball into the area over the bar. Werder’s team chemistry helped Gnabry to get into the game. “My teammates helped me feel comfortable from the very beginning. The team have been very accommodating,” said Gnabry.

According to Skripnik, the new signing shocked the coaching staff with his performance. Skripnik spoke very highly of Gnabry: “He trained for the first time on Thursday and played on Sunday as if he has been a part of the team for years. That really pleased me. You can see that he is a really talented player. But I’m sure that he still has a lot of room for improvement.”

In the second half however, you noticed how the last few intensive weeks of playing in the Olympics, moving to Bremen and playing for the U21 side had worn out Gnabry. But the 21-year old kept going and played the full 90 minutes of the match. The player remembers the atmosphere in the stadium particularly fondly. “I never would have thought that the surroundings would have been so great. It’s a shame we didn’t win because then the atmosphere would have been amazing,” said Gnabry. In nine days he will have another opportunity to enjoy this atmosphere. And hopefully he will be celebrating a win over Mainz 05 after the final whistle.