In the second half of last season, winter signing Julian Malatini had a debut to remember as he came on in the closing stages of the home game against SC Freiburg and then scored his first Bundesliga goal after just two minutes on the pitch. Malatini then marked his first start of this season with a goal last time out at Hoffenheim. Speaking to the press on Wednesday, the Argentine defender looked back on the win in Sinsheim and discussed Werder’s upcoming opponents.
Werder’s defender definitely wouldn’t have imagined that the Green-Whites would be 3-0 down after the first quarter of an hour at the PreZero Arena. “It was a crazy game. We weren’t focused at the start and didn’t play well in the opening 15 minutes. Thankfully, we got better and were desperate to turn the game around. I’m really happy that we got the win in the end,” said the 23-year-old.
His goal in the 21st minute to reduce the deficit to 3-1 was the start of Werder’s historic comeback and 4-3 win. An excellent piece of defending by the youngster in the closing stages also played a big part in SVW taking all three points. When asked whether the goal line clearance or his goal was more important for him and the win, the defender responded with a smile on his face: “I’m a defender after all, so I have thought more about the clearance off the line which secured us the win.”
At the same time, the game also marked Malatini's first start of the season. Now, the team look forward to hosting SC Freiburg on the weekend – an opponent that the defender will remember well, having scored just two minutes after coming on to make his debut for Werder against them. "It would be amazing," if that were to happen again, Malatini said with a laugh. "We need to be well prepared going into this game and I want to continue to recommend myself for further starts by performing well in training."
There will be several special guests at Saturday's game that will also be hoping to see the Argentine out on the pitch. "My entire family will be at the stadium on Saturday: my mom, dad, my siblings and their kids. I'm really looking forward to it and have already been able to show them around the city a bit, which they have really enjoyed."
We'll have to wait until Saturday to see whether Malatini and his family will have reason to celebrate again against SC Freiburg – something everyone at Werder would certainly like to see as well.
