SV Werder Bremen take home a hugely important fifth win of the season after an entertaining trip to SC Freiburg. Leonardo Bittencourt’s 19th minute strike was the only goal of the afternoon and proved to be enough to earn his side all three points. Florian Kohfeldt’s side managed to hold on despite a nervy end to the game, including a disallowed goal and a sending off for midfielder Philipp Bargfrede.
Leonardo Bittencourt: “We knew how important the game was, everyone could see that. After we took the lead we didn’t play as well as we wanted to. But we had to win today. We gave it everything and we’re delighted to have won here.”
Marco Friedl: “We addressed things clearly after the Leverkusen game and we knew that we needed to have a different mentality. We did that right from the off today and gave it our all. Not everything went how we wanted it to, but we need to work on that over the next few games. We were rewarded for our efforts. The win is deserved because we worked incredibly hard. We need to make sure we do that again in our next few games.”
Josh Sargent: “We are aware of the difficult situation we’re in and are ready to fight. Every game is a battle now. That was an important win, not just for the team or for the coach, but for the entire club.”
Florian Kohfeldt: “We earned the victory, particularly with our effort and passion in the final 15 mins of the game. Up until the 75th minute it was a good away performance from us against a strong Freiburg side, who were very patient up until the final minute, so it was difficult for us to keep hold of the ball. So I’m really happy about an away win against a strong side, even though we had a slice of luck at the end. We have to continue this mentality; I’m convinced that we have the footballing quality to continue picking up points over the next few weeks.”
Frank Baumann: “It was an important win for us, no doubt about it. We fought hard for the win, the team put in a lot of effort and fought for every ball. Of course we got a bit lucky at the end, but I think the team deserved the win.”
Marco Friedl: “My injury is okay at the moment; I was already having problems at half time. I pulled something when I stretched my leg out. It’s very painful but hopefully it’s nothing serious.”
Florian Kohfeldt on Kevin Vogt: “He took a blow to his hip during an aerial challenge in the 10th minute and pushed through until the 35th minute. It could just be a bruise, or it could be something worse. I can’t say for certain until Tuesday.”
Leonardo Bittencourt: “The criticism is normal when you’re in 17th place. We just have to ignore it and make sure that we stick together. We have both the quality and the desire to do it. We should enjoy today as we haven’t won for a long time. But from tomorrow, full concentration will be on the game against Gladbach.”
Davy Klaassen: “We had been looking forward to the restart and being able to play again. And then we put in such a poor performance. We were all hugely disappointed on Monday. So the game today was very important. The whole team worked for it. We need to play with that intensity in every game. At the end we got a bit lucky, but sometimes you need that. It was an important win to hold onto. But just one win isn’t enough, we have to keep going.”
Frank Baumann: “There’s always criticism. Whether it comes from the media, or from former players, that’s part of the business. We’ve had a really bad season and are still in a drastic situation. Nevertheless, we’ve always expressed how much we believe in the coach. We can’t just sit back now; we have to raise it up a notch.”
