Werder Bremen travel to face FC Bayern with plenty of confidence. "Our belief in our own strength has grown over the last few weeks. We want to take something away from Munich, I don't have to encourage my players for that," said coach Florian Kohfeldt, whose men have only lost one of their last six competitive matches.
However, Bremen's record against FC Bayern tells another story. Werder have lost all of their last 16 competitive fixtures against the German record champions, scoring eight and conceding 59 goals. Bremen have only won one of the last 22 encounters since 2008, drawing three and losing 18 matches. "The past doesn't matter," stressed Kohfeldt, "but it's clear that world-class quality awaits us, in every position. We absolutely don't need to discuss who are the favourites."
Almost all players fit
Kohfeldt took over as Bremen coach at the end of October, and Werder have been more consistent since then. The team from the Hanseatic city have only lost three of their last nine competitive fixtures. The 35-year-old sees two ways of taking points in Sunday's match away to the table-toppers: "You're almost never in possession but take 100 percent of your chances on the break. Or you dominate possession at times, let the ball do the work and come up with new challenges for them."
Kohfeldt picks from a near full-strength squad. Midfielder Thomas Delaney is fit again, but long-term absentee Fin Bartels is still out with an Achilles tendon rupture.
Topics of this article