The business trip to Holland was not supposed to end this way. After three straight victories, Werder Bremen needed to accept a 1-0 loss at Twente Enschede in the...
The business trip to Holland was not supposed to end this way. After three straight victories, Werder Bremen needed to accept a 1-0 loss at Twente Enschede in the...
The business trip to Holland was not supposed to end this way. After three straight victories, Werder Bremen needed to accept a 1-0 loss at Twente Enschede in the Round of 32 of the Europa League. It was Bremen’s first defeat on the road internationally since their 2-0 loss nearly two years ago in Glasgow. But the reasons for the defeat were clear: missed chances in the first half, lacking creativity in the second half and a massive mistake in retreating which led to the goal allowed.
"All toll, that was not the performance which we had imagined. We allowed our opponents much too much even though we knew what they could do. And we did not use our chances enough," said head coach Thomas Schaaf. Capitalising on chances in the first half especially was the team’s biggest problem as the team did not play poorly. "We should have led by one or two goals. The chances were there. It would have been deserved," said manager Klaus Allofs. "As long as it’s 0-0 the opponents still have hope. You could sense that. For Twente this was something special."
"The coach told us that Janssen had a good shot. I don’t know why nobody challenged him. And then the opponents really woke up with the goal," said Bremen keeper Tim Wiese. Defender Per Mertesacker could only shake his head recalling the scene. "That was the only danger they posed. Otherwise we stood very well in the back. We had the opponent under control on defence and won our tackles. But then he hammers this thing in from 30 yards out against us. After that it was difficult. We had to come back from the deficit and played a lot of long balls because they played really tight in the back. But that is exactly what we wanted to avoid," said Mertesacker.
