Werder Bremen’s final training on Monday afternoon took place without fans present. Werder supporters did not have a chance to see their favourite players at the training grounds of Weser Stadium. Head coach Thomas Schaaf decided instead at the last minute to move the training to Weser Stadium itself. "Because of the poor weather conditions, it was difficult to prepare the training grounds in an orderly fashion," said the coach about his decision in keeping his players off the icy training grounds and avoiding any injury risks. Schaaf also said that visitors and media members were not allowed to attend the final training due to construction on the inside of the stadium and various preparations for the Hoffenheim match in the stands and the lounges. "Due to various construction measures for the game on Tuesday we could not control who belonged and who didn’t," added Schaaf.

Bremen supporters had some good news as far as the personnel situation. Thomas Schaaf can count on the services of Claudio Pizarro against Hoffenheim on Tuesday evening. The neck problems which kept the Peruvian out of training on Sunday afternoon were gone by Monday. "Claudio’s situation improved and I hope that the problem did not worsen because of the training," said Schaaf, who will have to do without Sebastian Prödl in the cup match. The Austrian is dealing with a gastro-intestinal infection and is not on the squad for the cup match. Making his debut in the 18-man game roster will be striker Onur Ayik. The 20-year-old, who signed a professional contract with Werder at the end of the 2009, was nominated by Thomas Schaaf.

After the victory against Hertha Berlin last Friday, the coach sees his team on a positive trend. "The victory is pushing us to keep on our way. I can see that the things we have been talking about have made an impact. Now we have to take the next step and not relax," said Schaaf.

The following players were nominated for the match against Hoffenheim: Wiese, Vander, Pasanen, Naldo, Borowski, Fritz, Rosenberg, Marin, Özil, Hunt, Ayik, Abdennour, Husejinovic, Frings, Almeida, Pizarro, Niemeyer, Mertesacker.