There was something of an exotic draw for Werder Bremen in the final qualifying round for the UEFA Europa-League. On August 20th and 27th, Werder will take on FK Aqtöbe from...
There was something of an exotic draw for Werder Bremen in the final qualifying round for the UEFA Europa-League. On August 20th and 27th, Werder will take on FK Aqtöbe from...
There was something of an exotic draw for Werder Bremen in the final qualifying round for the UEFA Europa-League. On August 20th and 27th, Werder will take on FK Aqtöbe from Kazakhstan. The first leg, on Thursday, 20.08.2009, will be played at the Weser Stadium, with the return leg a week later to be played at the Central Stadium in the north-west of Kazakhstan.
Reactions to the draw:
Head coach Thomas Schaaf:
"That is really far away! We have to reckon with at least four or four and a half hours flying time. That, combined t with the crossing of time zones could make for quite a strenuous trip! Sportingly we have a lot of respect for our opponents. They won the double last season and in the current championship they are at the top once again. In addition, they had the chance to gather some Champions League experience this summer and were only narrowly eliminated by Haifa. That makes it all the more important that we get a good result in the first leg at the Weser Stadium. Our expectations are clear – this is a task that we must master."
Captain Torsten Frings:
"In spite of the long journey, I would consider it to be a good draw for us. The place itself is somewhere between Moscow and Nowosibirsk, with a three hour time difference, but we will manage it. We have the group phase of the Europa-League within touching distance and that’s where we want to be. They are already midway through their season but by then we’ll have a few games behind us too and will still be fresh. We of course want to make it to the final again and this is the first step. We can of course make things easier for ourselves by doing the business at home."
