"As much as my legs could take"

Fin Bartels interviewed after the Frankfurt game.
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Fin Bartels played 62 minutes against Frankfurt 62 Minuten (Photo: nordphoto).
First Team
Thursday, 04.06.2020 / 12:45

At first, Fin Bartels wasn’t sure the suffering he’d endured would come to an end, but then he realised during the matchday. “Two and a half years of injuries”, Fin Bartels remarked, speaking of his injury lay-off. His ruptured Achilles was followed by a knee injury, as well as various muscular problems, but those are all in the past now since Wednesday. Against Frankfurt, Fin Bartels made his return to the starting eleven after 907 days out. “It’s a wonderful feeling, but I would have swapped that feeling for some points,” said the 33-year-old in an interview after the 3-0 loss against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Bartels could put the game into the same category as he had put the game of two and a half years ago into: failure. After three minutes, he was tackled hard by Mijat Gacinovic, who received a yellow card. “That tackle made his start to the game more difficult,” said Kohfelt, who said after the game that Bartels had done well. “He offered the team what I hoped he would offer. He was good in space in the counter-attacking game, freed himself and was very good at pressing. This gave us control of the game in the first half.” The Werder coach does expect more depth and individual ability in certain one-on-one situations in the rest of the games from Bartels.

 

With a good start on his half-hour appearance in Freiburg, as well as good performances in training, Bartels was recommended for his first start since his serious injury in Dortmund on 09.12.2017. His start came as a surprise to many, including himself. “It felt like something normal. The coach told me briefly what to expect in the match and said I was going to start,” said Bartels with a smile.

He was less than satisfied with his performance. “It was a first step,” said Bartels. Finally, after 62 minutes, “the tank was empty,” he said in his typical North German way. This was just as he had planned with the coaching staff before the match, to go full throttle for an hour, “as much as my legs could take”, and then he would be subbed off for a teammate. Now it is time to recuperate until the game against VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday, because Fin Bartels long road back to normal is not over yet.

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