Head coach Thomas Schaaf was satisfied with his team's showing in the warm temperatures. "We started well and had some good stages, but we failed in the beginning to calm things down and finish off the game. It remained a tight match until the end. Erfurt really gave us problems and we still have quite a bit to improve upon," said the coach.
The Werder talent Trinks scored in the fourth minute to make it 1-0 after a fine attack set up by Aaron Hunt and Marko Marin. Erfurt rewarded their strong effort with the equaliser in the 83rd minute as the substitute Paradies was quicker to the ball than Schindler and headed in. But Schindler made good and gave Bremen the victory two minutes later with a volley strike after Markus Rosenberg had headed on Hunt's corner kick.
"We didn't really do the things we wanted to. There is still a lot to do. But we faced a good opponent, who played a good match despite a lot of new players. The conditions were perfect for the fans though we players would have rather had it a couple degrees cooler," said Clemens Fritz afterwards. Fritz did not have a problem being subbed out in the second half. "We have had two weeks of intensive preparations and play another game in two days against Chemnitz. We need to save our strength."