Taking the next steps

A preview ahead of the Hannover friendly

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Ömer Toprak has to get a few more minutes under his belt before the start of the Rückrunde (photo: nordphoto).
preliminary report
Saturday, 11.01.2020 / 14:30

Von Philipp Burde

The countdown has begun: After coming back from the training camp on Friday evening, it is now only a week before SV Werder returns to league action. After eight days in the Spanish sun, the green-whites only have a short breather, because they still have one friendly left to play against Hannover 96 on Sunday before the second half of the season begins. In the game against "the Reds", head coach Florian Kohfeldt is focused primarily on the personal situation: "It will be no ordinary friendly. I hope that we can take the next small step and make up the different fitness levels of the players." For summer newcomer Ömer Toprak, it will be the last time he’ll get to play in competitive conditions before returning to Bundesliga action. The Turk will play against Hannover on Sunday, January 12th, at 1pm as he looks to prepare for the Düsseldorf game with minutes of central defence.

The opponent: After finishing second bottom last season, Hannover 96 had to drop down to the 2. Bundesliga last season. Mirko Slomka was supposed to lead the northern rivals back to the Bundesliga before he was replaced by Kenan Kocak as the coach at the end of the previous season. The "96ers" currently rank 13th in the 2. Bundesliga table. In their last game, they came away from VfB Stuttgart with a 2-2 draw.

 

Kohfeldt: "No ordinary friendly"

Florian Kohfeldt already has Ömer Toprak on the team sheet for the Hannover test (photo: nordphoto).

The head coach on the upcoming game: While Florian Kohfeldt explicitly spoke of a "training game" during the first friendly of the winter break, the conditions against Hannover are 96 a little different. The conditions will be slightly more difficult, not only because of the upcoming start of the second half of the season, but also because of the geography of the two sides. "It’s no ordinary friendly. I hope that we can take the next small step and round out the different fitness levels of the players," said Kohfeldt. Some players will not be fit enough to take part in the final friendly and coach Kohfeldt doesn’t want to take any risks – he will send a fully fresh team out for the game.

 

Toprak's dress rehearsal

The squad: Head coach Florian Kohfeldt didn’t wnt to revel too much about the squad. Werder's coach was only able to confirm the use of defender Ömer Toprak in advance. Toprak should complete at least 60 minutes of the friendly so that he will be ready for the match against Düsseldorf just under a week later. It remains to be seen whether Leonardo Bittencourt will play against Hannover. The midfielder complained of a minor ligament injury and most recently trained individually, just like Fin Bartels, who is suffering with muscular problems ahead of the game.

The last duel: The two teams last faced off not too long ago. Last September, SV Werder also met the neighbors from Hanover in a friendly under reduced time conditions, in which Claudio Pizarro scored the only goal of the 60 minutes played. The Green-Whites also won their last competitive game against "the Reds" 1-0 when they defeated Hannover at the beginning of last year with a goal from Milot Rashica.

 

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