SV Werder Bremen came away from Mainz with a point after netting two late equalizers in a 2-2 draw. The hosts got off to a strong start, while Werder sat back and waited for opportunities to counter-attack. The Green-Whites lacked precision in their passes for much of the first half, as neither side was able to create much. That changed from the 85th minute onwards, as Mainz first took the lead through Ajorque. Just 80 seconds later, Werder drew level through Stage (87’). The hosts would then retake the lead through Weiper in the third minute of injury time, before Füllkrug bagged his 16th goal of the season to rescue a point for SVW (90’+5).

The international break is over, we’re into the final spurt of the season. Part one of that takes place for VfL on Saturday in Baden-Württemberg. With good memories of the first time we played then. Let’s look ahead to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim:

Switzerland’s 3-0 win against Israel has strengthened their position at the top of their Euro 2024 qualifying group. FCA’s Ruben Vargas volleyed home the opening goal in the 39th minute and went on to play 74 minutes in Geneva. 

Since his five-match barren run across all competitions without a goal, the Senegalese attacker has turned in six goals and three assists, relieving some of the pressure he had come under for the number of chances he was missing in front of goal.

In the last ten weeks there have been a lot of exciting developments in the world of football. But, obviously some things have remained the same, among these the Bundesliga table, which has remained unchanged since the middle of November. For this reason, ahead of the continuation of the competition this coming weekend, previous results do not play a deciding role. “Obviously there is a lot of anticipation after a two month break. The boys also showed this once again during the week’s training. We used our winter preparation very well,” explained Sandro Schwarz in the press conference ahead of Hertha’s first game of 2023 against VfL Bochum (21.01.23, 15:30 CET). “The match has arrived! It is now about having that extra 5% desire that is needed and having the necessary hunger so that we are as prepared as possible to push for a result,” underlined the head coach. The media’s questions at the press conference ahead of the game focussed above all on personnel and their opponents. “Bochum have found the strengths once again that made them stand out in the first year after promotion. Bochum as a team feed off a competitive approach to games,” suggested Fredi Bobic. herthabsc.com has summarised all of the important answers from Sandro Schwarz and Fredi Bobic. The two covered…

The “International Weeks against Racism” originate from a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly and commemorate the “Sharpeville Massacre”, in which the South African police shot 69 peaceful demonstrators in the township of Sharpeville on 21 March 1960.

Goalscorers Timo Werner and Kevin Kampl and board member for sport Max Eberl on the 3-2 win against FC Augsburg

On Wednesday, the DFB announced the kick-off times for the first round of matches in the 2022/23 DFB-Pokal. Mainz’s first competitive fixture of the new season will see them travel to face Erzgebirge Aue, who were recently relegated from Bundesliga 2, on Sunday, 31st July at 18:00 CEST. 

Urs Fischer’s team started pre-season fixtures with a 3-1 win over Viktoria Berlin on Wednesday. A first-half double from Sven Michel gave Union a dominant lead going into the break. Andreas Voglsammer hit one after half-time before Viktoria pulled one back through Umur Durmurshan. It was a good exercise for the Bundesliga side with three U19s appearing – Yannic Stein, Malick Sanogo and Aljosha Kemlein. New signings Danilo Doekhi, Milos Pantovic, Tim Skarke and Paul Seguin were given appearance time at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark.

Having already confirmed their first friendly of the winter break against Danish top-flight side FC Nordsjælland on 10 December, the Wolves have now arranged another match. On 17 December, head coach Niko Kovac will take his team to London to gain further match practice against Brentford. The Green-and-Whites previously crossed swords with the English club in summer pre-season, winning 4-0 at the AOK Stadion. Up until the World Cup break, the Bees had collected 29 points in the Premier League and occupy 10th place in the table after 15 matches.