SV Werder Bremen lost 3-2 to Twente on Sunday afternoon in a friendly (5/1/25). Sem Steijn gave the visitors the lead just before the break (59’), only to see his goal cancelled out a minute later by Skelly Alvero (60’). Marco Grüll then put SVW ahead after the interval (68’), before a double from Ricky van Wolfswinkel (73’, 75’) gave the side from Enschede the victory.
Line-up and formation: Head coach Ole Werner was without long-term injury concerns Felix Agu and Keke Topp, as well as JustinNjinmah, who wasn’t an option for this friendly despite working individually in training recently. Marvin Ducksch was also unavailable after a thyroid operation. Additionally, Leonardo Bittencourt and Michael Zetterer were both missing due to illness. Spyros Angelidis (U23s), Joel Imasuen (U23s), Mikail Polat (U23s), Wesley Adeh (U19s), Patrice Covic (U19s), Karim Coulibaly (U19s) and Mick Schmetgens (U19s) from the club’s academy were all part of the squad.
Starting line-up: Backhaus - Stark, Friedl, Jung - Weiser, Lynen, Köhn - Alvero Stage - Grüll, Schmid.
Subs: Kolke, Angelidis, Pieper, Veljkovic, Malatini, Burke, Nankishi, Adeh, Covic, Coulibaly, Schmetgens, Imasuen, Polat.
First-half highlights:
10th minute: Twente win the ball from a Werder throw-in and counter quickly. Striker Lammers shoots wide.
15th minute: Schmid’s high ball into Twente box is misjudged by a defender and that allows Grüll to get a shot off. Goalkeeper Unnerstall dives low to save his strike.
16th minute: Alvero shifts the ball onto his left foot on the edge and curls one just past the post.
34th minute: A corner proves dangerous as Friedl’s header is cleared off the line.
35th minute: It’s Twente’s turn to threaten. A header hits Stark on the leg and goes wide for a corner.
38th minute: Weiser is involved again, this time dribbling into the box and firing a shot at the near post. Despite Unnerstall getting a touch to tip it over, the referee gives a goal kick.
52nd minute: Steijn gets in behind the defence, but Backhaus is quick off his line and makes himself big to stop the striker taking it round him.
59th minute: Twente take the lead just before the break. Backhaus spills a free-kick and Steijn is there to take full advantage from close range.
60th minute: Werder strike back immediately. Alvero bundles the ball home from a corner.
Second-half highlights:
66th minute: The first chance of the second half belongs to Werder. Malatini’s cross is only headed as far as Stage in the box, but he can’t keep his strike down.
68th minute: Werder lead! Köhn fizzes a cross to the back post and Grüll is there to convert for 2-1.
73rd minute: Nijstad heads a Twente corner into his teammate van Wolfswinkel and the ball ends up in the back of the net to bring Twente level.
75th minute: Van Wolfswinkel gets his second and Twente’s third, leaving Backhaus with no chance from close range.
105th minute: Burke tees up Imasuen, who cannot take the chance to equalise.
110th minute: Kolke does well to block Bruns’ shot following a corner.
120th minute: Full time! SVW are beaten 3-2 by Twente.
Summary: Despite SV Werder having some good opportunities after the first 15 minutes, the away side from the Netherlands took the lead, only for Alvero to equalise right away.Grüll scored from Köhn’s superb cross in the second half, but a brace from van Wolfswinkel turned the game around again. As was the plan before the game, head coach Werner used the match to give minutes to everyone.
Head coach Ole Werner: “It was a solid performance in a competitive game. The important thing was that we sustained no injuries. Amos Pieper has a little bit of swelling after a collision, but it’s nothing serious. I think the game was played at a really good intensity, we conceded soft goals from set pieces. We struggled at times to use the space afforded to us. I’m satisfied overall though, it was also a good experience for the young players.”
SV Werder Bremen: Backhaus (91’ Kolke) - Stark (61’ Malatini), Friedl (61’ Pieper (90’ Coulibaly), Jung (61’ Veljkovic) - Weiser (91’ Schmetgens), Lynen (61’ Burke), Köhn (91’ Polat) - Alvero (91’ Adeh), Stage (91’ Covic) - Grüll (91’ Imasuen), Schmid (91’ Nankishi)
FC Twente: Unnerstall (61’ Tyton) - van Rooij (61’ Mesbahi), Lagerbielke (61’ Bruns), van Hoorenbeeck (61’ Nijstad), Kuipers (61’ M. Rots) - Steijn (61’ Besselink), Sadílek (61’ Eiting), Regeer - D. Rots (81’ Vennegoor of Hesselink), Lammers (61’ van Wolfswinkel), Vlap (61’ van Bergen)
Goals: 0-1 Steijn (59’), 1-1 Alvero (60’), 2-1 Grüll (68’), 2-2 van Wolfswinkel (73’), 2-3 van Wolfswinkel (75’)
Referee: Christoph Kluge
