“I am fit, feeling really good and I hope we can put on a good performance in Gladbach and take the three points back home with us,” said Özil on Friday after the final pre-match training session. Last weekend, following an impressive performance against his former club, FC Schalke 04, the 19 year old was named ‘CITIBANK Man of the Match. After his introduction during the week in the friendly against Lok Leipzig, the attacking midfielder set up Werder’s decisive second goal for Hugo Almeida.

With the return of Diego, a further midfielder is back in the Werder ranks. Özil remarked: “Of course I want to play tomorrow but I don’t necessarily have to play in the role behind the strikers. I can also play on the left or right flank.” Ultimately the starting eleven will be decided upon by trainer Thomas Schaaf and his coaching staff: “We have to make decisions every weekend which are relatively close calls. Every single player needs to question his own performance every week. We consider everything and then make our decision based on what we feel is the best solution. That’s the team that plays,” explained Schaaf.

The squad for the away game in Mönchengladbach is:

Tim Wiese, Christian Vander – Sebastian Boenisch, Petri Pasanen, Naldo, Frank Baumann, Jurica Vranjes, Clemens Fritz, Markus Rosenberg, Diego, Mesut Özil, Sebastian Prödl, Boubacar Sanogo, Daniel Jensen, Torsten Frings, Hugo Almeida, Claudio Pizarro, Martin Harnik