Werder Bremen will have to make do without the services of Frank Baumann for the next ten to fourteen days. The Green-Whites captain picked up an injury in a challenge with Tim Sebastian during Werder’s 2:1 win over Hansa Rostock on Tuesday and played out the final few minutes in some discomfort as the coach had already made his three substitutions. After several examinations, Baumann was diagnosed with ligament damage to his right ankle, which is expected to keep him out for about a fortnight.
The loss of another important player was enough to give trainer Thomas Schaaf some pause for thought: “Everyone knows how highly I rate Frank Baumann and just how vital he is to our system. Especially considering the sort of form that he has been in of late, it will be difficult to compensate his loss.”
Schaaf can consider himself to be in some sort of luck though. With the Bundesliga taking a break this weekend for the DFB Cup final, Baumann has won some extra recovery time: “I certainly want to be back for when the close of the season heats up.” Werder will have challenges from close rivals in the table, HSV and Bayer Leverkusen, as well as local north German rivals Hanover 96 – three games in which they could well do with having their captain on board.