Werder Bremen’s general manager Klaus Allofs was simply glowing after the final whistle at the HSH-Nordbank-Arena: “A 1:0 win in Hamburg at this stage in the championship, we are very satisfied with that! We managed a similarly significant win here the season before last.”
And a brief glance at the league table is confirmation enough of just how important the win was. The nine point jump on fourth placed HSV means Werder will finish the season in third place at worst – and with that, they would be involved in a qualifying game for a place in the Champions League proper. But that’s just not enough for the Green-Whites.
“Everyone knows that third place just isn’t worth so much because it doesn’t ensure you will be involved in the league stage of the competition. With that in mind, we want to win the last two games of the season and qualify directly for the Champions League,” explained a determined Klaus Allofs.
The only competitor left in the race for the runner-up spot in this season’s Bundesliga table is FC Schalke 04, and the situation looks positive for the Green-Whites, but a two point advantage is not a decisive one. “You only need to be able to count to work out that nothing has been decided quite yet. There are still six points up for grabs and we are just two points ahead,” warned captain Frank Baumann who knows that there is still work to be done.