SV Werder have won the "Audi quattro Cup" after beating Valencia CF 3-2 on penalties after the match ended in a 0-0 draw. Viktor Skripnik's team breezed into the final with...
SV Werder have won the "Audi quattro Cup" after beating Valencia CF 3-2 on penalties after the match ended in a 0-0 draw. Viktor Skripnik's team breezed into the final with...
SV Werder have won the "Audi quattro Cup", beating Valencia CF 3-2 on penalties after the match ended in a 0-0 draw. Julian von Haacke, Levin Öztunali and Janek Sternberg scored the penalties for Werder, before Felix Wiedwald saved the final Valencia penalty to clinch the win. Viktor Skripnik's team had breezed into the final with a 4-0 win over hosts Red Bull Salzburg, while their opponents beat Southampton FC 1-0 in the other semi final.
Zlatko Junuzovic made his first appearance of pre-season during the semifinal against Salzburg. The Austrian international only returned to training on Friday, but still managed to show his quality by grabbing an assist during his 30 minutes cameo before being subbed off for fellow countryman, Florian Grillitsch.

The hosts were arguably the stronger side in the opening stages of the match, with Takumi Minamino forcing yet another brilliant save from new Werder keeper Felix Wiedwald in the eleventh minute. It proved a turning point for the Green Whites, who took the lead minutes later through Philipp Bargfrede. The midfielder played a delightful one-two with Anthony Ujah before slotting the ball calmly past Alexander Walke in the Salzburg goal.
With a 1-0 cushion, Werder dominated the game and doubled their lead in the 22nd minute after Ujah continued his impressive pre-season form by converting Junuzovic's cross with an audacious back-heeled finish from inside six-yard box. Debutant Ulisses Garcia made it three after his initial cross into the box was blocked by the defender, setting up a rebounded finish on the volley. With the victory all but wrapped up, Werder closed out the remaining 20 minutes of the match before last season's top scorer, Franco Di Santo, finished from outside of the box to wrap up the 4-0 win.

Theodor Gebre Selassie, Izet Hajrovic and Levin Öztunali all made their first appearances, having also returned from holiday on Friday. Felix Wiedwald was the only player from the semifinal to keep his place in the team for the final.
Unlike in the semifinal, Werder started the much better team. After a great piece of build-up play from Levin Öztunali, Fin Bartels managed a right-footed shot on target, but Valencia's keeper Jaume Domenech parried it away for a corner. It was one of the few chances for either side during the 45 minute match. Indeed, the main highlight came in the 27th minute when, after Theo Gebre Selassie had given away a foul, Felix Kroos headed the ball out of touch to give the defence a moment to get organised. The referee Christopher Jäger showed Kroos a yellow card, seemingly for dissent, before then showing him a red card just moments later. Werder would have to finish the match with ten men.
The Green Whites were resilient despite being a man down and almost nicked a winner right at the death. After delightful link-up play between Janek Sternberg, Fin Bartels and Florian Grillitsch, the latter of the three found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but Domenech saved well. The game was destined for penalties, but unlike in normal cup matches where each side has five spot-kicks, the shootout went straight to sudden death.
After three successful Werder penalties by von Haacke, Öztunali and Sternberg, Wiedwald popped up with a heroic save to seal the 3-2 win. Against a strong European opponent, it was a brilliant and well-deserved win for Skripnik's men as they continue their preparations for the new season. Next up the team travel to Zillertal where they will complete their second training camp.
Viktor Skripnik: "Obviously it's good that the team sees what their work from the last few days can bring in terms of results. But there's no time for celebration - we're still only at a very early stage in our preparations:"
Thomas Eichin: "The boys kept up surprisingly well against a team that starts its competitive season next week. We were very clever in the game and took our chances clinically."
Clemens Fritz: "We found it difficult to get into the game in the first few minutes, but after that we were markedly better. We can't let this result, which in my opinion doesn't tell the whole story, hide the fact that there's still a lot of work to be done in the next few weeks."
Assani Lukimya: "It's nice to get such a good result as it will give us a lot of confidence. It's nice that we were able to keep a clean sheet."
