SV Werder’s training camp in Zillertal finished with two draws against RB Leipzig (0-0) and Ipswich Town (1-1). Schmid (22’) and Gruev (44’) came closest to scoring against Leipzig, while Dawid Kownacki scored his fifth goal in four pre-season games (12’) against the English opposition. The ‘Tractor Boys’ equalised in the 37th minute.
Line-up: Ole Werner named two completely different sides for the two games. All fit players were able to play 60 minutes, with Daniel Ihendu sitting on the bench initially and then coming on shortly before the end for Cimo Röcker against Ipswich.
Team against RB Leipzig: Pavlenka – Stark, Pieper, Ducksch, Bittencourt, Füllkrug, Schmid, Rapp, Gruev, Mbom, Opitz.
Team against Ipswich Town: Zetterer – Jung, Stage, Kownacki, Njinmah, Salifou, Schmidt, Burke, Woltemade, Groß, Röcker.
Highlights:
5’: A nice move from Werder! Mbom plays a low pass into the box and Füllkrug smartly lets it run for Ducksch. His shot is saved by RB goalkeeper Blaswich.
19’: A quick free-kick from Leipzig gets them in the box and Werner shoots from the penalty spot. Pavlenka makes a good save.
22’: Schmid is played in by Füllkrug. His effort is too central and it’s a chance wasted.
44’: Gruev hits the inside of the post on his left foot with a shot from just outside the area.
48’: Schmid receives the ball from Ducksch and goes round Blaswich in the box. He is slightly clipped by the goalkeeper but there is no foul. He gets up to tee up Mbom, whose weak shot is cleared off the line.
54’: Timo Werner is in behind and tries to chip it over Pavlenka. He succeeds but the ball goes wide. Ducksch did well to put him off.
60’: Full time. Werder and Leipzig play out a goalless draw.
Highlights:
4’: Goalkeeper Slicker prevents an own goal on the line from a Schmid corner.
12’: The opening goal. Slicker cannot properly collect Oliver Burke’s cross and Dawid Kownacki is there to score for Werder.
28’: Jens Stage fires a shot just wide from the edge of the box, that was close.
39’: Sloppy defending from Werder and Ipswich are level. Freddie Ladapo’s pass finds Greg Leigh and he hits the back of the net. 1-1.
49’: Röcker narrowly misses the target with a back-heel from Woltemade’s pass.
60+1’.: Full time. Ipswich pushed for a winner, but Werder held firm for the draw.
Head coach Ole Werner: “We wanted a good end to the training camp and I hoped to see the things we had worked on over the last few days. That was the case during periods of both games. We didn’t get in behind enough in the first half against Leipzig and didn’t push up the pitch with enough intensity, though we did that better after the break. It was actually the opposite in the second game against Ipswich – we were better in the first half. We weren’t as threatening in the second period. We’ve learnt a lot from these two matches and I’m satisfied with our performances overall.”
Christian Groß: “The first half against Ipswich was decent for us, we were just missing that second goal. We weren’t as good going forward in the second half and conceded a silly goal, which stopped us from winning the game. We can’t use tired legs as an excuse as I’m sure the other two teams had them too. I think we did well with the new system, we put together a few good moves. We obviously need to fine tune a few things, but we’ve got a few more days for that.”
