SV Werder Bremen have certainly had to wait long enough since they last hosted a DFB-Pokal tie at the Weserstadion. However, on Tuesday evening, 03/12/2024, second-division side SV Darmstadt 98 and former SVW head coach Florian Kohfeldt travel to Bremen (kick-off 20:45 CET). The Green-Whites head into this cup clash fully focused on progressing to the last eight.
Squad update: Ole Werner will be without Keke Topp (ankle injury) and Felix Agu (knock to the knee) for the match on Tuesday. After serving his DFB-Pokal suspension in the last round, Amos Pieper is available again for the upcoming tie. Reports on the fitness of the remaining squad following the 2-2 draw with VfB Stuttgart were positive; however, the first training session was still yet to take place at the time of the press conference. Werner did rule out full sail rotation, though, stating that he wanted to send the “best possible XI onto the pitch.”
Ole Werner on the opponent: “For us, it will come down to not making too many mistakes when in possession and being able to find the right spaces. Darmstadt are a team that are able to seek out various options when in possession and it’s tough to break them down, which is what makes them one of the most in-form sides currently in the second division. We will need to be focused on defending well against counter-attacks, as well as maintaining the disciplined high press we’ve implemented thus far.
Previous meetings: This clash will be the 16th competitive encounter between SV Werder and SV Darmstadt 98. The Green-Whites have emerged victorious from five of those battles, while the Lilies have four wins to their name. However, Darmstadt are still yet to register a victory at the Weserstadion in eight previous attempts. They probably came closest to doing so in February, when the sides last met. During the game which ended in a 1-1 draw, the visitors twice were stripped of the winning goal by VAR intervention.
The fortress that is the Weserstadion: For the first time in over three years, SVW finally get to host a DFB-Pokal tie at their Weserstadion. The last time they did, they suffered a 2-1 defeat after extra time at the hands of RB Leipzig, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The previous occasion on which the Werder home fans got to see a cup clash was more than four years ago, as a sold-out crowd witnessed the Green-Whites triumph 3-2 over Borussia Dortmund. Since 1988, only Leipzig and Bayern (in 2019) have walked away as victors from a DFB-Pokal fixture in Bremen. The other 40 of those 42 home ties have gone the way of the hosts...
