A win from either side could see them firmly in the European picture.
| Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images |
Werder Bremen
Werder Bremen potentially saved their season last weekend.
Despite being in a horrid run of form, including elimination from the DFB Pokal at the hands of 3rd-tier Arminia Bielefeld, they went to the BayArena and defeated reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen. While the opponents didn’t name their first-choice lineup, they still fielded several big names.
Bremen made the most of the circumstances. It was a real team performance, with everyone that came on contributing something to the contest. They opened the scoring early on, pouncing on a defensive mistake and ultimately slotting home through Romano Schmid.
If the focus wasn’t already on parking the bus, it became the only plan when that goal went in. The Green-Whites kept a solid and compact shape, and they didn’t really give up many chances at all until the 75th minute. The Leverkusen eventually turned it up a notch, and things were tense near the end.
A goal did come, but it was scored by Bremen. There was too much space in behind, and Keke Topp dinked the ball into Justin Njinmah for a close-range volley. That was the dagger, and it secured a massive victory on the afternoon.
Die Werderaner are still on the outside looking in when it comes to European qualification, though. They’re five points off of 7th-place Wolfsburg, and there’s only nine games to go in the campaign. They need to pick up points and they need to do it quickly.
However, if Werder can win at the BayArena, then why can’t they win anywhere else against anyone else?
Team news
Bremen will be without key wingback Mitchell Weiser, while Niklas Stark is also unavailable for selection due to injury.
Borussia Mönchengladbach
It was a bad day at the office for Borussia Mönchengladbach in their last contest. They ran into the modern-day fairytale that is Mainz, who are one of the stories of the season.
Gladbach struggled despite being at home, and goals on either ends of the half put the opposition up two. The hosts pulled one back, but their two-goal deficit was restored only four minutes later. That was the end of the scoring on the afternoon.
It wasn’t the worst result in the world for Die Fohlen. They’re still right in the thick of the European battle, one point off of 7th and two points off of 6th. As per usual they’ve been the definition of inconsistent, winning one week and then losing the next.
Mönchengladbach are a talented outfit, and they’re led by star striker Tim Kleindienst. He’s made a smooth transition to his new surroundings since joining in the summer, scoring 14 goals and adding 5 assists to that tally.
If he’s in form, or his teammates are playing at their best, then it’ll be hard to bet against Gladbach.
Team news
The Foals are going through a bit of an injury crisis, as they’ll likely be without the likes of Franck Honorat, Moritz Nicolas, Nathan N’Goumou, Niklas Swider, Rocco Reitz, and Tomas Cvancara.
