Our next opponents: Get back on track as a team

Position

A look at the stats early on in the calendar year highlights Werder Bremen’s current situation on the pitch: The Green and Whites are the second weakest team in the Bundesliga Rückrunde to date above FC Heidenheim. The North Germans have only picked up four points in seven games. All the last five games ended in defeat. The 24 goals conceded by Werder are more than any other side in 2025. The recent record is definitely sobering. The low points were, above all, the 5-0 defeat at SC Freiburg in the league and then the DFB Pokal quarter-final exit away to third tier Arminia Bielefeld, the opponents for the Werkself in the semi-finals. Werder lost 2-1 and they were particularly disappointing in the first half.

Werder Bremen failed to achieve the turnaround at the weekend in the home game against VfL Wolfsburg. But Werder did produce a reaction and a decent performance in the 2-1 loss against the Wolves. After going behind early on to a goal scored by Patrick Wimmer (6’) the injury-hit Bremen team pressed for the equaliser but were unable to beat the impressive Wolfsburg keeper Marius Müller. The hosts suffered the next blow in the second 45 when Wimmer put Wolfsburg 2-0 up (48’). Despite clear-cut chances and a late consolation strike from Mitchell Weiser (90’) Werder had to accept the next loss – but one that does provide hope. Head coach Ole Werner did take a lot of positives from the game: “We produced a decent performance. Not everything went right but the team tried hard to get a result. In my opinion, we were the better team but the more clinical side won. That’s the approach we need to show over a longer timescale.” Werder Bremen did succeed in that for long periods of the Hinrunde. At the end of last year they were seventh in the table just two points behind Eintracht Frankfurt in third spot – and they clocked up more points then than they had since 2011/12. Werder dropped down to twelfth in the new year. “We botched the start of this year,” said midfielder Romano Schmid not mincing his words. Scant consolation: The gap to the play-off spot is still thirteen points.

Personnel

The Werder Bremen list of absentees was long for the home game against Wolfsburg. It was primarily tight up front: Top scorer and provider Marvin Ducksch (6 goals, 7 assists) was joined on the sidelines by Marco Grüll (5/1), Justin Njinmah (2/1) and Romano Schmid (1/3). Ducksch was ruled out with a muscle injury. The latter three and midfielder Skelly Alvero were sidelined due to illness. In addition, the captain Marco Friedl is still unavailable. The central defender suffered a knee injury in the 1-0 win against Mainz 05 at the end of January, the only Werder win so far in 2025. Friedl will most probably not be available for the away game at the BayArena. It remains to be seen if Ducksch can make it. There is also a question mark over an appearance by Niklas Stark in Leverkusen on Saturday. The central defender had to be substituted at half time in the 2-1 defeat against Wolfsburg after picking up a knock on his knee. All the other Werder players hit by flu should be available for selection.

If Marvin Ducksch is unable to play on Saturday, André Silva will again have a good chance of starting up front. The 29-year-old Portugal international was signed on loan from RB Leipzig in the winter transfer window. “André is an option who gives us a lot and he could be really important to us,” said Peter Niemeyer, head of professional football at Werder. Silva has yet to score in his five appearances for the Green and Whites. One alternative in the attack is Keke Topp. The 20-year-old made his comeback at the weekend after three months out with an ankle injury.

Problems

The ease and fluency shown by Werder Bremen in the Hinrunde have disappeared for Ole Werner’s team in the new year. After the 5-0 drubbing in Freiburg, the head coach criticised the lack of team spirit in his side and demanded greater cohesion: “We’ve fallen apart and not played as a team. If we function as a team we are capable of competing in every game and if we drop off somehow then we come a cropper.” The 49 goals conceded are clear evidence of problems in defence. Only Holstein Kiel (59) and FC Heidenheim (50) have let in more goals. Goalkeeper Michael Zetterer was at fault for several goals conceded – as with opener against Wolfsburg.

The lack of stability in midfield and the defence accompanies a deficiency in finishing. Only five goals have been scored in the seven Rückrunde fixtures to date. Bottom-of -the-table Heidenheim (4) have scored one less in that timescale. Werder Bremen fluffed their lines up front against Wolfsburg. “They’re just not going in at the moment,” declared Milos Veljkovic before adding: “Over the last few weeks we haven’t been ourselves, that wasn’t Werder Bremen – it wasn’t like in the Hinrunde.”

Performers

The Green and Whites played some exciting games in the Hinrunde. They came back from 3-0 down to win 4-3 against TSG Hoffenheim, won 2-1 away to Mainz, secured a 4-2 victory at VfL Wolfsburg and also produced an impressive display for long periods in the 2-2 draw against the Werkself. At the end of last year, Werder showed with three wins on the bounce against VfL Bochum (1-0), St. Pauli (2-0) and Union Berlin (4-1) what the team can achieve this season with team spirit, confidence and the joy of playing. Quality is in evidence across the different parts of the team: Anthony Jung and Niklas Stark are amongst the top ten defenders with the numbers of duels won. The former Leverkusen player Mitchell Weiser is one of the most dangerous wing backs in the Bundesliga with four goals and six assists. Midfielder Jens Stage is in the top twenty scorers and providers with seven goals and four assists. And the Werder attack gives Ole Werner plenty of alternatives with Germany international Marvin Ducksch (six goals and seven assists) plus Marco Grüll, André Silva, Justin Njinmah, Keke Topp and Oliver Burke.