The day before SV Werder are due to return from their winter training camp in Alhaurin el Grande, they’ll contest two friendlies within a matter of hours. On Monday the 9th at 14:00 CET, German second-division team Kalsruher SC will be the Green-Whites’ opponents on the Alhaurin Golf Resort, while four hours later, Nouri’s men will face top Belgian side Club Brugge. WERDER.DE has taken time to have a closer look at the upcoming opponents.
Club Brugge traveled to the southern coast of Spain from Belgium on the fifth of January to attend their winter training camp in Sotogrande. Along with their friendly against SVW, they’ll face another German team in the shape of SC Freiburg.
Newcomer Thomas Delaney has good memories of Monday’s opponents, as his old side Copenhagen hosted Club Brugge on the second matchday of this year’s Champions League, comfortably running out 4-0 winners. Bremen’s new number six also got himself on the scoresheet with a truly tremendous strike. In a group with Copenhagen, Porto and Leicester, Brugge also lost their remaining games and were eliminated from the competition.
However, things have been going much better for the “Blue & Blacks” in their domestic league. After 21 games, coach Michel Preud’homme’s men lead the way, two points ahead of rivals Anderlecht.
You may recognise Brugge’s captain Timmy Simons, as he was under contract at 1. FC Nürnberg between 2010 and 2013. The 40-year-old midfielder set a new record last November, becoming the oldest player to ever feature for the Belgium national team.
In the Brugge attack, Jelle Vossen is the guy SVW will have to keep an eye on. After failing to make an impact at two English clubs, the 27 year old has found his feet against in the Jupiler League, already netting twelve goals and getting six assists this season.
The last time the two clubs met was back in April of 1992. However, the circumstances were very different back then, as that clash was in the semi-finals of the European Cup Winner’s Cup. This tie consisted of two legs, the first being contested in the Jan Breydel Stadium in Brussels, while the second was in front of our own Green-White supporters at the Weser-Stadion.
After a 1-0 defeat in the first leg, Werder turned the fixture on its head in Bremen to win 2-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate. The game which followed turned out to be one of the greatest moments in the club’s history, as SVW beat AS Monaco in the final to claim our first any only big title on the international stage. This year marks 25 years since that triumph and coincidently, Werder face the Belgians again – just not as much is up for stakes this time.
