Clash Of The Titans - Werder Prepare For Bayern

First Team
Saturday, 10.03.2007 / 10:09

The 25th match day of the season won’t bring us any closer to knowing who will take this season’s Bundesliga title. “I don’t understand the question”, answered Thomas Schaaf as a reported at the pre match press conference asked if a defeat against Bayern Munich on Sunday, 11.03.2007, would put an end to any championship hopes that the Green-Whites may possess.

The 25th match day of the season won’t bring us any closer to knowing who will take this season’s Bundesliga title. “I don’t understand the question”, answered Thomas Schaaf as a reported at the pre match press conference asked if a defeat against Bayern Munich on Sunday, 11.03.2007, would put an end to any championship hopes that the Green-Whites may possess. If Werder were to lose to their south German rivals, they would still hold their playce ahead of Ottmar Hitzfeld’s men due to Bremen’s superior goal difference. Were Schalke then to win in Hanover, the Green-Whites would then be six points off the top spot. The fact is that the points will not be allocated until after Bremen play Munich. Werder versus Bayer is always a special occasion but no matter what happens at the Allianz Arena, neither side will be burying their title dreams.

 

Sunday’s opponents are the absolute personification of how quickly all things can change in football. FC Bayern have had a real roller-coaster ride of a season. Despite a shaky start, the title holders were on level pegging with the then table toppers Werder Bremen by match day seven. Bayern’s drive towards the top was stopped in it’s tracks as they went down 3:1 at the Weser Stadium. Since then the Munich club have had to take their place as, with little exception, the fourth placed side of four hot championship candidates. The position in the table hasn’t changed much but their distance from the other chasers and the atmosphere within the team has certainly seen it’s ups and downs. The ‘Reds’ from Munich went into the winter break just three points adrift of Werder and Schalke. A comfortable position to launch an attack on the top two but soon after the leagues re-start Bayern suddenly found themselves a sizeable twelve points off the top spot. Those in charge at Säbener Straße decided it was time that radical changes took place and replaced coach Felix Magath with old hand Ottmar Hitzfeld and reset their goal for the season to qualifying for the Champions League.

 

Even with the introduction of Hitzfeld, Bayern’s luck didn’t change much, picking up season defeat numbers six and seven against Nuremberg and Aachen. Bayern were not about to throw in the towel and with dips in form from Schalke, Werder and Stuttgart, Munich found themselves still to be hanging in there. Now they are back in the race and loud about it too! Pouncing from the unexpected is now the new philosophy in Munich, but then everyone in Bremen was aware of that: “I was laughed at by people when I said I considered Bayern to be still in the race”, acknowledged Thomas Schaaf in confirmation of his own prophecy. Their recent Champions League success, knocking Real Madrid out at the final 16 stage will have done nothing to shake their confidence even if Schaaf sees that as having little effect on the up-coming tie: “We have just as much respect for Bayern as we’ve always afforded them.”

 

And it’s a great deal of respect. Schaaf’s men know all too well that Werder have had little to laugh about over the years in Munich managing only six wins in their 40 visits to the capital of Bavaria. The last two seasons brought 1:0 and 3:1 defeats. The early season game at the Weser Stadium was an absolute gala in green and white. Werder, in stunning form, steam-rolled Bayern with goals from Diego, Pierre Wome and an own goal by Lucio. All in Bremen know that Bayern are back on song and seeking revenge. Thomas Schaaf said: “That will be a very different game to the one on Thursday. Bayern won’t be nearly as defensive as Vigo were. They’ll put us under pressure and give us a real challenge.” Still, Werder are also going into the game in positive form. The team have their own expectations after convincing wins against Bochum and Celta Vigo. “We want the third win against Munich this season”, announced Tim Wiese. Werder also beat the championship holders in the league cup final.

 

On paper, Werder have a slight disadvantage going into the game – the return journey from Galicia on Friday has cost the team a whole day. Bayern had an extra day to recharge their batteries after their Champions League win on Wednesday. It’s not a problem in Thomas Schaaf’s opinion though: “We deliberately stayed an extra night in Vigo to allow the players to get some extra sleep. Today is just a travelling day and tomorrow we’ll have some light training. The game is not until 5pm on Sunday, by then the battery will definitely be full recharged. The top tie of the weekend is also a real challenge for top professional footballers. “We look forward to every game but it is clear that this particular tie demands a little more attention. If you do well there, there are a lot more people who take notice. There are so many camera’s and every scene can be analysed from countless angles”, explained Schaaf. Even if the result in Munich won’t decide the title – it’s Bayern against Werder. And that’s saying something.

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