Despite the difficulties surrounding SV Werder Bremen’s squad availability, head coach Ole Werner is feeling confident ahead of the matchday 29 clash against the league leaders on Saturday, 14th April (17:30 CEST). “We’ll try our hardest to take as much away from the game as possible, even though we’ve been dealt a bad hand with absences over the past few weeks,” explained the 35-year-old in the pre-match press conference.
Ole Werner will be missing a number of his players in this weekend’s meeting with Bayer 04. Anthony Jung, Jens Stage and Marco Friedl are all suspended, and will be absent from the clash along with Niklas Stark, Justin Njinmah and Amos Pieper, who sustained an ankle injury against Frankfurt. Jiri Pavlenka will also sit out of the game due to muscle problems, as will Skelly Alvero, who is waiting to undergo some tests after falling on his shoulder in training. Werner is fully aware of the challenge that a reduced squad will pose to the team. “When some of the boys are missing, it’s even more vital that the group sticks together and puts in a strong performance,” remarked the head coach. “We won’t complain, and will do our best to come up solutions to deal with the problem in the best way possible.”
????️ Ole Werner on the draw against Frankfurt:
— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) April 12, 2024
"It was a good game, particularly with how the boys defended and put their bodies on the line. The point came at a price when you consider the suspensions and injuries, but it's given us a good momentum."#werder#b04svwpic.twitter.com/FkDncioslt
Werder will face a huge challenge on Sunday. Bayer Leverkusen could win the Bundesliga title for the first time in their history with a win against the Green-Whites. “We’re playing against the best team in Germany,” said Werner. Despite the magnitude of the challenge of picking up points against the still-unbeaten Leverkusen, Werner and his players want to cause an upset. “Even though Leverkusen are obviously big favourites, we want to cause them problems and take our chance to pick up some points.”
SV Werder Bremen have already shown what they’re capable of away from home this year. The 1-0 away win at FC Bayern on matchday 18 should “serve as an example” to Werner and his team. However, Werder’s head coach still knows that a team who “show their quality in all phases of the game” awaits in the form of Bayer Leverkusen. Therefore, it’s even more important for Werder to focus on themselves. “We need to look at ourselves,” Werner explained. This is also especially relevant due to 1. FSV Mainz 05 and 1. FC Köln starting to pick up points towards the bottom of the table. Instead, the Green-Whites simply have to perform. “We need to pick up points.”
