SV Werder’s second home game of the 2024/25 season is this Saturday (21/9/24, 15:30 CEST) against FC Bayern at the Weserstadion. It’s set to be an extremely tricky game for the Green-Whites, as Ole Werner stated at the pre-match press conference on Thursday.
Ole Werner will not have to worry about hearing FC Bayern’s infamous goal music this weekend after their 9-2 win in midweek against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League. “It was stuck in my head after that Champions League game,” joked the SVW head coach at the pre-match press conference. “It just shows they’re in good form and that they have lots of quality in every position. We know that we’re hosting one of Europe’s best sides and won’t read too much into their last results,” added Werner.
Ultimately, Werner wants his team to focus on their own strengths and the things they can influence. The Green-Whites head into this game in good form, having put together a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions: “We have to put in a great performance, both with and without the ball. We can go into the match with confidence, even if we know it’s the toughest possible game in the Bundesliga. Nevertheless, we’re going into this game to win it. We’ll have to be at 100% to do so.”
The trip to Munich last season showed that beating the record German champions isn’t impossible. Mitchell Weiser scored the only goal of the day on that occasion to secure a 1-0 victory. Despite that, Werner believes it’s a completely different game this time around, especially because FCB have a new head coach in Vincent Kompany. “I’ve seen what they’ve done so far and you can clearly see that the coach has put his stamp on the team. I’m not thinking about last season anymore, also because lots of things have changed at Bayern. We just want to cause another upset.”
Werder will definitely be without Marco Friedl (suspended), Justin Njinmah (ankle ligament damage) and Milos Veljkovic (ankle issue). Werner wasn’t prepared to reveal who would come into the starting XI or squad to replace them. “We’ve got two good options in defence in Julian Malatini and Amos Pieper. Derrick Köhn also did really well on the wing. Keke Topp and Marco Grüll are two different types of strikers – this is the kind of competition for places we need.”
????️ Werner on his counterpart Kompany:
— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) September 19, 2024
"Bayern are tough to defend against and they have a clear vision. That is a result of the coach. I haven't been deliberately watching his press conferences or interviews, though."#werder#svwfcbpic.twitter.com/k2YTO50V9X
