Werders upcoming Bundesliga tie against VfL Wolfsburg promises to be cracker if we are to be influenced by the nerve tingling cup clash from three weeks ago when the Green-Whites eventually bowled out the Wolves 7:6 after a penalty shoot-out.
Werders upcoming Bundesliga tie against VfL Wolfsburg promises to be cracker if we are to be influenced by the nerve tingling cup clash from three weeks ago when the Green-Whites eventually bowled out the Wolves 7:6 after a penalty shoot-out.
Werders upcoming Bundesliga tie against VfL Wolfsburg promises to be cracker if we are to be influenced by the nerve tingling cup clash from three weeks ago when the Green-Whites eventually bowled out the Wolves 7:6 after a penalty shoot-out. Wolfsburg may be travelling to Bremen with 17 points on their slate and lying back in seventh place, but the Lower Saxon factory club remain the only Bundesliga side to have a positive record against Werder at the Weser Stadium. 3 home wins, 1 draw and 4 home defeats (14:13 goal difference) is a quota that Werder intend to rectify at the weekend.
All at Werder are aware that Saturdays tie will be a hard fought one. Miroslav Klose explained: "We saw in the cup that the Wolfsburg team can play well going forward and that they are unpredictable. Their strenght is without doubt in attack and they will want revenge for the cup defeat." Teammate Christian Schulz has respect for Wolves: "Wolfsburg are strong and very compact which means we'll have to break them down first", the German international added confidently "We are clear favourites though."
Brimmimg with self belief, the Green-Whites intend to force another positive ratio in their favour. In sixteen previous meetings, Werder have won seven, drawn two and lost seven - this time they are vowing to pick up their eighth three pointer against VfL: "We had a negative result with the defeat in Munich before the international break and we wish to rectify that in our own stadium", commented Schulz who is still bubbling with joy having qualified for the Under 21 European Championships with the German national team.
Head coach Thomas Schaaf has equally high expectations before the tie: "We want to improve our position in the Bundesliga, that's the plan for Saturday. Wolfsburg will demand a lot from us and we must therefor give our all, show flowing football and security on the ball."
Wolves have some personnel issues prior to Saturdays game. Central defender Kevin Hofland has to sit the tie out due to suspension. Playmaker D'Alessandro is still out with a muscle injury and the Werder coach knows: "They're missing a player who can create great offensive impulse." Still, the trainer knows that the little Argentinian is not the only danger-man in the side: "Klimowicz and Hanke are very dangerous, especially from set pieces but also when they are sought out with long balls forward which they can control and feed the oncoming midfielders with."
Werder know that success depends upon 90 minutes concentration - a lesson learned three weeks ago when the tie stood 1:1 after the second half: "We must try to decide the game earlier this time, we can't rely on penalties to help us on Saturday. We had too many good chances in that match and didn't use them", warned captain Frank Baumann. Thomas Schaaf agrees: "We saw in the cup game that this could be a tight one if the Wolfsburg side are active involved. That's why we'll have to make better of our chances on Saturday if we are to feel settled and take the three points."
VfL's players also have their memories of the cup game, Pablo Thiam stated clearly: "Bremen are favourites, we're the underdogs - the difference to the cup tie is that we can be satisfied with a draw." His colleague Maik Franz remarked: "In Bremen we proved that we can rescue a defeceit. Morale is good in the side, hopefully it works well on Saturday."
