The comeback begins

Fortuna Düsseldorf match preview

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The goal is clear: avoid relegation (Photo: nordphoto).
preliminary report
Thursday, 16.01.2020 / 17:34

The first step on a long road ahead: SV Werder are straight back into the thick of it of the relegation battle as they return to Bundesliga action against Fortuna Düsseldorf on Saturday (15:30 CET). After two weeks of intense training sessions, a 3-1 friendly win against Hannover and a new addition to the squad, there are clear signs of improvement for the Green Whites. Florian Kohfeldt’s team want to start the New Year with a new lease of life, and make an instant impact in their first game of the Rückrunde against one of their direct competitors. “It can help, especially if you win the game. In our situation every match is important and we have to fight for every single point,” sporting director Frank Baumann said ahead of the game.

The squad: Werder’s injury crisis seems to be easing up just in time for the first game of the New Year. After a number of short-term absentees, Milos Veljkovic, Claudio Pizarro and Leonardo Bittencourt have all been given the all-clear. Ludwig Augustinsson, however, is still unavailable for the time being.

 

Baumann: The confidence is back

Frank Baumann remains confident about the upcoming matches (Photo: nordphoto).

Baumann on the match: Despite the absence of Florian Kohfeldt, who was unable to attend the pre-match press conference due to a foot injury, Frank Baumann was very clear about the team’s current situation. The two-week training period has done the squad a world of good, in order to clear their heads and “get their confidence back.” The fact that Werder will kick-off the Rückrunde with a game against one of their direct rivals “can be helpful, especially if we win.” However, it’s certainly not an easy task they have ahead of them, “We know how they like to play. They’re compact in defence and have lots of good players at their disposal.” The newly-promoted side also possess lots of quality on the ball, and Werder have prioritised working on their defending in order to combat this. “It’s about defending as a unit. We need to keep the opponent away from our goal,” said Baumann.

Funkel sick of the sight of Werder

Johannes Eggestein scored his only goal of the season in the previous meeting between the two sides (Photo: nordphoto).

The previous meeting: It didn’t quite go to plan for Werder when the two sides met earlier on in the season. Despite Johannes Eggestein’s equaliser, SVW ultimately fell to a 3-1 defeat in front of their fans on the opening day. However, it’s a new year, filled with new luck and the team have their sights set on their first three points of the decade.

Funkel’s nightmare: Fortuna’s head coach Friedhelm Funkel is always worried when SV Werder come to town. The Green Whites have been responsible for the second highest number of goals (62) that the 66-year-old’s teams have conceded throughout his managerial career, behind just FC Bayern (83). And that’s not all: Only three other Bundesliga sides have dealt Fortuna’s head coach more losses throughout his career than Werder (17). That should give even the greatest pessimist confidence ahead of Saturday’s game.

The referee: Referee Dr. Felix Brych will take charge of the game. The 44-year-old will be assisted by linesmen Christian Leicher and Stefan Lupp. The fourth official for the game has been named as Sören Storks, while Benjamin Brand and Marco Achmüller will be the video assistants for the encounter.

 

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