SV Werder Bremen lost their first friendly during their training camp in Zillertal. Around 1,800 fans were in attendance at the Parkstadion in Zell am Ziller as U.S. Lecce ran out 3-0 winners. Their goals were scored by Nikola Krstovic (31’, 34’) and Hamza Rafia (86’).
Line-up and formation: Head coach Ole Werner named two different XIs for the two halves, as is often the case in pre-season. Marco Friedl captained the Green-Whites from the first whistle, with Leonardo Bittencourt taking the armband after the break.
First-half highlights:
28th minute:Ducksch intercepts a backwards pass from Pierret and Werder can start a counter-attack with an overload. Werder’s number 7 plays it to Topp, but gets fouled himself in the process. Topp, now on his own, takes on the defender but cannot get a shot away.
31st minute: SVW are caught in possession. Youssef Maleh slips in Krstovic and he takes his chance, beating Zetterer from around 10 yards out. 1-0 to Lecce.
34th minute: Another goal for Lecce. The Italian side once again break quickly after a turnover in possession. After a 50-50 tackle in the box, Pierret gets to his feet quicker than Stage and tees up Krstovic, who fires a low shot past Zetterer. 2-0 to Lecce.
44th minute: What a chance for Werder! Werner’s side press high up the pitch and Hansen-Aarøen wins the ball back on the edge of the box. He squares it for Topp, but he takes a touch and tries to round the goalkeeper, only for Falcone to clear the danger with his feet.
Second-half highlights:
66th minute: It’s another nice move by the Giallorossi. Lemmens cuts it back for Rafia, who dummies it for Oudin. His shot fizzes just past the near post.
71th minute: Werder win a free-kick in a promising position after a foul on Justin Njinmah. The captain for the second half, Leonardo Bittencourt, curls one over the wall and just past the post.
76th minute: Another chance from a free-kick! This time, Olivier Deman steps up and also narrowly misses the target.
77th minute: The best chance of the second half so far: Njinmah is clean through one on one against Früchtl, but his shot is straight at the keeper. He could have potentially squared it to Kownacki.
86th minute: Game over. Rafia’s shot from distance is too good for Backhaus. 3-0 to Lecce.
90th minute: Full time at the Parkstadion. SV Werder lose 3-0 to U.S. Lecce.
Summary: It was clear that both sides are still early on in their pre-season preparations, with a number of mistakes made by both teams at the start of each half. Lecce clinically punished Werder’s errors and that was enough to secure the victory.
