Marko Arnautovic couldn't wait for the Hoffenheim match after sitting out the previous contest against Leverkusen with the flu - where he was definitely missed. The Austrian striker made up for it with three goals in Werder's 4-1 win at 1899 Hoffenheim. "I spent a couple of days this week in bed. When I ran I could tell I was a bit winded but I didn't feel anything scoring those goals," grinned the Austrian, who was very happy that head coach Thomas Schaaf put him back into the starting line-up. "That is not automatic after that kind of week but he gave me the trust."

And he wanted to show the entire world how thankful he was, jumping into his coach's arms after scoring his second goal. "He just deserved that. He works just as hard as the team does. That was a sign to the entire coaching staff, which doesn't have it easy with us. The coaches often prepared us so well and we could not reward them and us with points," said the 23-year-old Arnautovic.

Werder captain Clemens Fritz praised the Werder striker after his superb showing. "Marko has stepped up this season, taken a big step forward and the game today will bring him another step forward," said Fritz.